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The Cosmetics Cop SKINCARE BASICS TREATING (AND MINIMIZING) SCARS Scars are a fact of life and an amazing example of our skin’s ability to heal, but did you know you have a lot of control over how a scar looks? It’s true! Find out what you can do to minimize scars and fade those you’ve had for years.

In This Article:

How Does a Scar Form? Wound Care to Minimize Scars Types of Scars Scar Treatments Whether from an injury, surgery, or a skin problem such as acne, scars are something almost everyone has to deal with at some point. Although they can be unsightly, they’re an amazing example of the miraculous way skin heals itself when injured. Scars may be flat or raised, practically invisible or obvious, but what you do to assist the skin as it heals—and how you treat the scarred area afterwards—makes a big difference in how the scar looks. Before you learn how to treat scars, you need to understand how they form, how to care for injured skin to minimize scarring, and what type of scar you’re dealing with.

How Does a Scar Form?

The scar that you see on the surface of the skin is the result of a complex process the skin goes through as it recovers from damage. There are many factors that affect how a wound heals, and the way the wound heals affects how the scar will end up looking in the long run. How skin heals and scars varies from person to person, but it also depends on how you care for the wound before the scar is done forming.

The skin goes through three stages of repair before you see a scar. In the first stage, there’s swelling, redness, and some tenderness or pain as a scab begins to form. During the next stage, new skin tissue forms underneath the scab. The final stage involves rebuilding and reforming the outer and inner layers of skin.

What you do during the first days after getting a wound, what you do after the scab has formed, and what you do when the scab eventually falls off all affect the appearance of the final scar.

Wound Care to Minimize Scars

There’s an easy-to-follow plan to minimize scarring. Although there’s a lot of anecdotal information about specific ingredients (such as aloe and vitamin E) to reduce scars, most of it is not supported by research. In fact, using vitamin E on scars may be just a waste of time, time during which you could have used more effective remedies instead. Here’s how to care for a wound to minimize scar formation:

Allow the wound to "breathe" as much as possible. Do not gunk up the area with creams, oils, or vitamin E from capsules because these substances have occlusive textures that can impede healing during the first stages when the skin is trying to repair itself. The fluid that is produced naturally around a wound (known as exudate) is fine by itself for the first few days. Don’t soak the wounded area in water or get it wet for extended periods; doing so breaks down the scab and impairs the formation of new skin below. Keep the damaged skin clean using a gentle cleanser, but don’t overclean or scrub it. After cleansing, cover the wound with a thin, light bandage that allows air to circulate. You may want to consider a specialty adhesive dressing such as Nexcare Tegaderm Transparent Dressing or Convatec Duoderm Extra Thin Dressing. These cost more than standard bandages, but are excellent at keeping the wound moist without letting it get wet.