Scar Healing

[ARN010]

Does anyone have any info about scar healing? Anything that helps it heal nicely?

Thx!

[Carmell]

Vitamin E works well to keep the scar soft and heal nice. I use Vitamin E gel - its easy to use (like lotion). Actually, anything like lotion works. Scars are very dry so anything with a moisturizer will be good. No need to spend lots of money on expensive items that say they work. The cheap stuff works just as well. As long as her scar is completely healed, this should be fine.

Just a side note to any parent (or patient) who has repeated surgeries using the same incision area... DO NOT put anything on the scar! The more you put on the scar, the harder it is for the surgeon to close the incision the next time. Too much moisturizing breaks down the skin tissues making it more difficult to have a nice, clean closure next time. Again, this is ONLY in cases where the incisions are opened repeatedly. Braydon's VEPTR incisions fit this category. He's had his incisions opened 14 times so far. Gotta protect that tissue as much as possible.

[txmarinemom]

I certainly can't speak for repeated surgeries ... Carmell's the source there.

That said, I have had fantastic results with Mederma (and the store brands of the same) with my 17" scar (from early Feb '08) AND old scars from knee surgeries as far back as 1992 (I have quite a collection .)

Sun exposure is normally to be avoided by most, but I'm back in the sun (I love my beach time!) and the tanning bed already - and as I get darker, mine has almost faded to white. Then again, I'm olive complected and have no predisposition to keloids.

If your skin is sun sensitive - or you are fair/prone to keloids -, a zinc oxide stick on top of regular sunscreen is a good idea. I have a friend who also recently told me keloids can be stopped/reduced as they form by a visit to the dermatologist and steroidal injections. Most believe only darker skinned persons are prone to these, but that's not the case.

Regards,
Pam

[Snoopy]

We never used anything on my daughter's scar and it is a thin, almost invisible 14 inch scar.

Mary Lou

[vndy]

I've used mederma on mine, and use a SPF50 + zinc oxide stick on it in the sun. If anything looks funny to you, I'd recommend visiting a dermatologist to check on it. Mine said that after 3-4 months of mederma use, you've gotten all the benefit you can from it. She also caught an almost-keloid and was able to prevent it from developing further.

[txmarinemom]

BTW, Happy BD, vndy ;-).

As I've mentioned, I have witnessed noticeable improvement years after (especially on raised scars from skinned knees - and burns - but also 16 yr old surgical scars) from Mederma.

Just speaking from the point of view of someone who has a TON of scars currently marinating in the stuff (including my fusion scar), an efficacy time limit of 3-4 months after scarring doesn't represent the results I've personally seen, nor what the product packaging (for what it's worth) claims.

From the results I've gotten, I'd encourage longer term use ...

[alyssa.star]

I have an anterior scar and I use Palmer's Cocoa Butter on it. As well as smelling nice (lol) it softens scar tissue and smothes out the scar to a thin white line. It's worked really well for me, xx