Any injury to the skin can leave a scar. Whether you have suffered an injury due to a puncture, accident, surgical procedure, or burn, your body starts working immediately to repair that wound. As the skin is healing, scars may form – a natural part of the body’s healing process. Whether a scar appears or not, or how severe the scar is, will depend on how well the wound has healed. This has a lot to do with the care you have taken to make sure it heals fast and properly.
Scars from surgery or on joints like knees and elbows are fairly inevitable, but minor cuts and scrapes may not appear at all or will fade fairly quickly. Proper wound treatment is key.
Check out these tips to care for your wound so you can reduce the appearance of scars:
- Keep the cut, scrape or injury clean. Wash the area gently with mild soap and water to ensure no dirt, debris or germs remain.
- Keep the wound moist. Petroleum jelly is one example of how to lock in moisture. Slather this on at the beginning to prevent drying and scabbing of the wound. This is unavoidable for the most part, but the thicker the scab, the longer it takes to heal. Keeping the area moist will ensure the scar doesn’t get too large, itchy or deep. You could also apply an anti-bacterial ointment.
- Cover the wound with a bandage. After cleaning the area and applying the ointment, cover it with a bandage. If you have a particularly large cut, sore, or burn, consider using silicone gel sheets for more coverage.
- Change the bandage every day. To ensure the wound heals properly, keep it covered in the first few days. If you can’t tolerate adhesives, use non-adhesive gauze pads with paper tape. Change your silicone gel sheets according to the instructions on the package.
- Follow your doctor’s advice on wound care if your wound required stitches. This can help minimize the scar’s appearance. Go back at the proper time to get the stitches removed.
- Apply sunscreen after healing. Sun protection can reduce discoloration and help your scar fade faster. Use an SPF of 30 or higher, reapplying frequently.
- Apply Scarfade twice a day. Apply Scarfade cream or gel to the affected area twice daily. Use it for up to 16 weeks until you no longer see changes in your scar.
For most minor cuts or scrapes, home treatment is enough to reduce the appearance of your scar. But if you have a deep, extremely painful or infected wound, get immediate medical care.
While no major scar can completely fade away to nothing, many minor scars and even major ones can experience fading when the proper treatment is applied. To see Scarfade in action, check out our before and after photos.