Scar Treatment
Our skin is the most extensive organ in the body. Any damage to the skin, in the form of injury or trauma, can result in the formation of scars. The skin has the exclusive quality of regenerating itself and in the absence of this process, scars appear.
Scars are essentially tissues that are fibrous and come in the place of the normal skin. They can be considered as the healing process of the skin after injury or burn. Scarring is a normal healing process and almost every wound results in some scarring, with the exception of minor lesions or cuts.
Scars that form after surgery, accidents, and disease do not regenerate, leaving a permanent mark. The tissue that forms over the injured area is of an inferior quality in the sense that it does not perform all the important functions of the normal skin such as the working of sweat glands and growth of hair follicles. Scarring, thus, puts a mark which is not easily removed. Scars are unattractive and may cause a lot of discomfiture to the person who has them.
Scars Remedies
- There are many treatments available for scars based on the type of the wound, the incision, its depth, and one’s age, sex, heredity, and ethnicity. All of these factors will have a say in how the skin reacts to the treatment.
- Keloid scars are the result of an aggressive healing process which hinders the mobility of the person. The treatments that are possible for such scars are removal through surgery or with the injection of steroids. The smaller scars can be treated through freezing therapy that uses liquid nitrogen. This is called cryotherapy.
- The other treatments that can be used involve gel pads with silicone or pressure treatment. Semi-occlusive ointments which are petroleum based are considered the best in scar remedies. Corticosteroid therapy is another scar treatment that is injected into the scars and is very effective for burn scars.
- Needling, a collagen induction therapy that came up in this decade is also effective. In this therapy, the scarred area is continually needled to support collagen formation. The patient’s skin is coated with vitamin A and vitamin C just before the needling is done. The needling process has now become less painful as the needles are made from new variants of titanium. After needling, the needled area is allowed to heal completely and the process is repeated based on the intensity of the scar. This treatment is best done under medical supervision.
- Steroid treatments also take a long time and have to be done under medical supervision. This scar treatment helps in softening keloid scars. Silicone sheeting therapy is used to heal hypertrophic scarring. Superficial and low dose radiotherapy is used to prevent the recurrence of severe hypertrophic and keloid scarring.
- Though there is profusion of therapies and scars treatments accessible, it is necessary to consider how much one is willing to spend and for how long.
