Caring for Your Skin and Minimizing Scars

April 1st, 2016 | Posted in: Beauty Tips, Skincare |

Caring for Your Skin and Minimizing Scars

In actuality, scars are prime examples of the skin’s remarkable ability to heal and repair itself. After an injury, skin problem, burn, or surgery, fibrous tissue replaces the damaged skin and a scar is born.But whether you fell and cut your knee or you are recovering from a tummy tuck, there’s little doubt that scars are unwelcome and unwanted additions to your skin’s appearance. Although they never completely fade, some scars do diminish over time, and keeping that in mind, how you treat your scar can possibly improve the way it looks.

Treating Scars

Scars come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and types. They can be categorized as indented, flat, or raised. There are also a handful of different factors that can affect how your scar ultimately appears, including things like your age, where the scar is located, as well as the depth of the wound.

Caring for scars promptly, when the wound is fresh, is one of the biggest keys to a more successful outcome where scarring is minimized. Most of these steps are simple, and quite frankly just involve avoiding certain actions. One example includes not applying vitamin E to the wounded area. Are you shocked? Well, according to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, treating a wound with vitamin E can actually impair the healing process, not better it. Additional do’s and don’ts for treating scars include:

• Do not cover your wound with products like oils or creams, but instead give it a chance to breathe and an opportunity for a scab to form. On that very important note, don’t pick your scab. Simply let it be, as removing it can hinder the healing that is in process under its surface.
• While it’s good to keep the wounded skin clean, you do not want to do this overly aggressively by scrubbing, or keep the wound soaked in water. You should also not apply hydrogen peroxide to the wound because it can possibly damage other skin that surrounds the area.
• Keep scars away from contact with the sun. Sun exposure is one of a scar’s worst enemy because it can burn the sensitive tissue fairly easily, and make things worse by darkening it. A scar may then remain discolored and not fade. If possible, wear protective clothing to shield the injured area. If the scar is on a spot such as the face however, apply sunscreen of SPF 30 or greater when venturing outside.
• Once the wound has healed, you can try gently massaging the scarred area to break up bands of collagen that are accumulating underneath. Rubbing it approximately 5 to 10 minutes, 2 times a day, can potentially help the healing process and therefore have a beneficial impact on the scar’s appearance.

Helping Patients with Their Aftercare Needs

Scars can tell a story, but most of us still desire that our skin remains as beautiful as possible, no matter what it goes through. At Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery, Dr. Gabriel Chiu attentively reviews his patient’s needs, scarring concerns, and the details for recovery care to help achieve optimal results. If you are interested in a reconstructive or cosmetic procedure and desire superior care through this journey, contact our office today or call us at 310.888.8087 to learn more.