Your Guide to Improving Scars

Posted Wednesday June 26th, 2019

When you fall or get a bad breakout, you get an open wound on your skin. Your body attempts to fix this by frantically building collagen. Collagen is built up in a disorderly fashion as a result, and we no longer find normal, smooth skin where the cut was.

Instead, we find scars which remain on our skin indefinitely. While cuts and injuries on the surface of our skin results usually in short-term discoloration (otherwise termed as post-inflammatory pigmentation, PIH), deeper scars may be long-term.

Luckily for us, scars fade over time through what is termed as scar remodelling. For most cases, this takes one to two years, but in certain cases scar remodelling may be prolonged up to five years. This is especially so for thick, hypertrophic scars. Those who are susceptible to keloid scars may find that their scars may not fade, and even grow increasingly prominent.

The appearance of scars is not the only issue. Scars can also cause inconveniences such as irritation, pain, or impede certain actions. They come in many types, shapes and forms, and hence need different types of care and treatment. To best resolve your scarring issues, you should see a doctor with expertise in treating scars whom will treat you accordingly.

Doctors have suggested a few treatments for scars:

1) Light therapy: One way to reduce the prominence of scars is to quicken the process of healing of any of your cuts or injuries. The more prolonged the process of repair, the more prominent the resulting scar will be. Remember to check with your doctor about any cuts or injuries of concern, and ensure that you heed your doctor’s advice well if you are undergoing any surgeries to prevent any issues with healing. Light Emitting Diodes (LED) therapy is based on ‘Photomodulation’, and works by triggering the generation of new collagen to promote healing.

2) Collagen Remodelling: To combat scars formed by disorderly collagen, SmartX Lite and Fraxel lasers promote more orderliness in collagen growth during scar remodelling. The looks and textures of scars can be alleviated by undergoing these treatments monthly, for about 4 to 6 appointments.

3) Calming your scars: Initially, scar cells and tissues are alive, and not metabolically inert. The stage of scar remodelling can be brought forward through scar calming methods such as the medically-proven VBeam laser, which targets the vascularity of scar tissues. Alternatively, steroid scar injections also help in calming scars.

4) Scar surgery: In certain cases, the most effective method to reduce the prominence of scars may be surgery. With specifically designed surgical methods, the looks and plasticity of scars that impede certain actions, such as those over joints, can be improved.

5) Mixed treatments: For optimal results, different types of treatments such as Scar Prevention Program and Scar Intervention Program work collaboratively to treat scars.