Dos and Don'ts of Scar Prevention

As the warmer months approach, people who just had surgery may be thinking about getting their scars fixed. Most people know that any skin injury that is more serious than a cut or scrape will leave a scar, no matter how well it is treated.

Most scars go away over time, which is good news, but how noticeable they are will always depend on how bad they are. Scars can be healed in several ways, and because the skin is very flexible, they will fade over time. But before we get into that, can you tell us what makes a scar and what kinds of scars there are?

How Do Scars Form?

How a scar looks depends on several things. In addition to the amount of blood that may get to the area and the color and thickness of your skin, the shape, size, and depth of the wound also affect how the scar looks.

Types of Scars

There are three different kinds of scars. Most scars are small, flat, and very thin. When someone gets a hypertrophic injury, the scars are often red, raised, and thick. Keloid scars are raised like hypertrophic scars, but they go past the edges of the original cut and are usually darker or redder.

Keloid scars are known for being hard to treat and hard to predict, and they often run in families. They happen when the body makes too much collagen and responds well to steroid injections in the area. You should see a doctor if you have a keloid scar.

There are some rules to follow if you are self-conscious about how your scars look. Now, let us look at the do’s and don’ts in detail below −

DO’s

Do: Use Appropriate Dressings to Aid in Healing

People often think that wounds need to be left open so that they can "breathe." When a wound is exposed to air, it dries out. It makes it heal in a longer time. When scabs form on dry wounds, they stop new skin from growing. Infections can make scars worse, so use antibiotic ointment and a bandage to keep them from happening. To make sure the wound heals completely, change the dressing and apply ointment on a regular schedule.

Do: Use A Scar Treating Method

You may already know that cocoa butter can help scars fade, but there are also many over-the-counter options. For example, scar removal gels can be used repeatedly without hurting either new or old scars. They mostly succeed in making the scar less noticeable by removing the color caused by the injury.

Do: Press Down

By getting more blood to the area and massaging the scars regularly, you can make the scars less noticeable and break down the collagen that holds them to the damaged tissue.

Do: Get Stitches if Necessary

For deep or widely spaced cuts to heal properly, a doctor may need to stitch them together. Don't forget that the wound is at its weakest right after it has been cut so that stitches can be put in. A doctor may not want to close a wound that hasn't been taken care of for too long because it could get infected. When the cut starts to heal, it might be harder to sew it back together. If you aren't sure if your cut needs sutures, you should see a doctor as soon as possible.

Do: Be Patient

Healing takes time, and it could take quite a while. There is an initial healing period of three months and then a maintenance period of three months. The scar is almost finished at the one-year mark after an accident, but it will continue to grow and change over the next year.

DONT’S

Don't: Use Peroxide to Fresh Cuts

Peroxide is used to treat cuts in many families because that's what our parents did when we were young. Even though peroxide worked well against infections, it also killed new skin cells, which made the scars more obvious.

Don't: Expose Under Sunlight

Even if the weather is getting warmer, a wound that is still healing should be kept covered. Sun damage can cause the skin to change color, which can make a scar look bigger. Use sunscreen whenever you go outside to keep your scars from getting darker.

Don't: Use Vitamin E

Word of mouth says that putting the liquid from a Vitamin E pill on the scar will help it heal faster. Not only does scientific research show that Vitamin E doesn't do much good, but many people who try it have a bad reaction to it.

Don't: Believe False Scar Creams Advertisements

There have been anecdotal reports that vitamin E helps reduce scars, but this has never been proven in a rigorous scientific study. In reality, no scar-prevention product has been shown in clinical trials to work much better than other options that don't require a prescription.

Don't: Pick At Scabs

Patients may pick at scabs because they are itchy, but this can slow the healing of the wound and make it more likely that the scar will be too dark.

When a wound happens in the body, the healing process starts right away. White blood cells kill germs that cause infections, and red blood cells, fibrin, and platelets work together to form a clot to seal the wound and make a scab.

If the scab is taken off too soon after the wound has healed, it can worsen the scar.

Conclusion

Inflammation, tissue creation, and remodeling are the three stages of the natural scar formation process that occur as part of the skin's normal healing process. The proliferation of fibroblasts in the wound causes collagen production, which is then used to fill and chaotically seal the wound since most patients aim to have as little visible scarring as possible after surgery, especially if the scar is in a highly visible area. Hence, we hope our Dos and Don'ts of Scar Prevention article has helped you!

Scars take a long time to disappear gradually. To prevent the scar tissue from drying out and changing appearance due to exposure to UV radiation, use a mix of basic Vaseline with sunscreen or silicone sheets. Topically Vitamin E is ineffective and may lead to localized contact dermatitis. See a dermatologist if you're interested in exploring more cutting-edge treatment options.