One part of the aging process is a change in your skin. There is a natural progression of how your skin looks and reacts from childhood to adult years to the senior citizen. Age plays a prominent role in the healing process of skin-related injuries and the development and healing of scars.
Childhood Scars
Kids are resilient. They have a keen ability to bounce back from many different things, including cuts and other wounds. Children usually have a strong, vigorous response when healing from physical trauma. As a result, their scars are thicker and hold a pink pigmentation longer than adults’ and seniors’. The advantage is that most childhood scars will fade with age.
Depending on the location of the scar, they may either shrink or get bigger as children grow. Kids’ bodies are constantly growing, and naturally producing collagen – a fundamental building block of scar tissue – is part of the process. As some body parts grow, such as the face, the scars on them may elongate. When the old collagen throughout the body in scars is replaced by new collagen, they can become more elastic, and therefore smaller.
Adults
The skin on adults is fairly elastic. Scars are thinner and are less affected by tension on the skin than kids’ scars. It is, however, impacted by ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun. It’s important to stay out of the sun at any age. When your scars are healing, it’s even more important as an adult to wear sunscreen or avoid direct sunlight on your scars to avoid more noticeable pigment changes.
Seniors
The body’s oil and sweat glands naturally shrink with age, which makes the skin dry. Dry skin takes longer to heal than moist skin. Skin also becomes thinner with age. It’s less resilient and elastic, which makes it harder for wounds to heal. It also makes scar development and healing a longer process.
Keloid Scars
When scars develop, they may take on a reddish or purple tone, growing dense and fibrous outside the natural borders of the original wound. These are called keloid scars. They tend to be hereditary. Many studies have been done in the medical community on keloid scars. According to a study published in American Family Physician, the most common age for people to develop keloid scars is between 10 and 30. The study also notes that people who have keloid scars and injure their skin elsewhere are likely to develop keloid scars at the new wound site.
Scarfade silicone scar treatment can be used at any age to reduce visibility of scars. It is highly effective on keloid scars. Learn more about our treatment gel here.