Warmer weather means more chances for getting scratches, scrapes, and bruises. You can get injured playing sports, falling off a bike, or falling when walking. Often cuts and bruises lead to scarring. A dermatologist has great advice on how to cure scarring cause be different factors. There are many treatments now that reduce scars caused by acne, surgery, and accidents.
Proper Wound Care
Often how a wound heals depend on how well a person takes care of it. Scars caused by minor scratches and scrapes can be treated more effectively by caring for them properly. Wash the wound with mild soap and warm water and keep it clean. Rinse with warm water and dry with clean towel.
Use petroleum jelly on the wound to keep it moist. The jelly keeps it from forming a scab. It takes a wound with scabs longer to heal. It should be cleaned daily and the wound covered with an adhesive bandage. For larger wounds, use hydrogel silicone, gel sheets, or gauze with tape. The bandage should be changed daily to keep the wound clean.
After the wound heals apply sunscreen. It prevents hyperpigmentation. If you need stitches listen to the doctor’s instruction on caring for the wound. Don’t pick or remove scabs when they form. This can cause a scar and give you an infection if bacteria enters the wound.
Minimizing a Scar
There are several factors that influence a cure for scarring. They are the age of the person, severity of the scar, type of scar, tolerance for medications and procedures used. There are now many options for patients with scarring that dermatologist use for scar care.
Facial Fillers and Injections
Soft tissue fillers are often used for pitted and depressed scars. The results are not permanent and the process must be repeated every few months. Fillers are often injected into the skin using a needle. A new filler which has promise is called Platelet Rich Plasma a product that uses a patient’s own blood and fat cells. Some of the fillers used are Botox, collagen, Juvederm, Radiesse, Restylane and Sculptra. This treatment may require a series of treatments to be effective. It may cause some bruising and redness. It is a good choice for scars that are depressed and need to be filled and raised up.
Chemical Peels
This process removes a layer of skin using a chemical. The skin is cleaned and then the chemical is applied often more than once. It produces a burning sensation but allows a new layer of skin to grow back. Deep peels often require taking pain medication. Redness may last 3 to 7 days, sometimes blisters form, and the patient may have to wear bandages for several days and avoid the sun. The peels improve appearance of scars and work best on fair or light skinned patients.
Dermabrasion
This is effective for acne scars, scars from accidents and pox marks. First the area is cleaned than the doctor uses a freezing spray to prevent pain. He removes the scar tissue with a wire brush or diamond shaped tool. It can causes redness and swelling. Patients have to cleanse the skin daily, apply ointments and change bandages. It takes about six to twelve heal from the procedure effectively.
Laser Resurfacing
This method uses a laser to remove skin layer by layer using short burst of light. The heat vaporizes layers of skin so new healthy layers can grow back. It heats the layers of skin promoting collagen production. It is effective for acne scars, surgical scars, or scars caused by trauma.
The area is marked with a pen and a local anesthesia is used. Patients may have to wear eye goggles to protect their eyes from the laser. Wet towels are put in the treatment area to minimize damage to surrounding skin. After the treatment, the area is wiped with a saline solution to cool it. The area is covered with ointment and bandages. It causes pain, swelling and peeling skin in the process.
Laser Light Therapy
Laser light therapy uses a gentle laser that treats scars without damaging surrounding skin and tissue. It is used to reduce scars in a shorter time period. It also stimulates collagen production. It produces redness and slight swelling that may last eight to 24 hours or less. Swelling may last a few to several days. It is a non-invasive treatment for scars the works quickly.
Fat Transfer
Fat is removed from the patient’s thighs, stomach or buttocks by liposuction or a small needle attached to a syringe. The fat cells are processed in a lab then injected back into the scars using a needle and syringe. The scar will be cleaned and marked with pen. A numbing agent is applied. The fat filler will be injected into the scar site with a needle. Patients may have swelling, redness, and pain after the procedure. They can usually return to work and their regular routine right away. Antibiotics are taken after treatment and a follow-up visit is needed to monitor results.
Dermatologist will always suggest the best procedure to help with the type of scarring you have. They will suggest scar care and scar products that help you with your goals. There are many procedures that dermatologist will suggest to treat different types of scars. Don’t suffer with embarrassing scars contact one to learn more about the many treatments available.