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Home Scar Treatment – How You Will Get Good Results Without Surgery

To reduce scarring you must protect a wound and its scar from infection. This is the conclusion of a medical investigation in Italy.  Why?

• Infection brings healing to a standstill.
• The longer a wound or incision takes to heal, the more scar tissue builds up.
• The body is just trying to hold the wound together when it grows scar tissue.
• It’s going to try harder when infection stops healing.

The Italian research documents the need for what they call “a mechanical barrier against bacteria.” What they mean by “mechanical” is something you apply.

Home scar treatment using 100% silicone creates this kind of protective barrier. It  guards against infection,  blocks air, dust and other irritants.

More from the doctors in Italy: “As shown by the most up-to-date research, it is now possible to accomplish the pharmacological and non-surgical therapy of…scars by means of … chemical agents.”

Medical-grade silicone is a pharmacological and non-surgical therapy.

Why avoid surgery? When they cut they have to do a lot more to prevent scarring. The most difficult thing to do affect blood flow to the scar tissue to slow its growth. 

-Article Source: Cattedra di Chirurgia Plastica Parma, Italy.

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Learn about your type of scar 

Scar Removal: Will You Need A Scar Reducer After Plastic Surgery?

Skin is fragile. Plastic surgery incisions, or any other skin invasion, leave a scar. Cosmetic surgeons cannot predict scarring because everyone heals differently. The depth and size cannot be foreseen.

Three certainties.

• Once a scar forms it cannot be erased.
• It can be improved with a scar reducer, but a trace will always remain.
• Surgery to treat a plastic surgery mark will leave a new one.

Plastic Surgery Scar Characteristics Vary.

1. Liposuction “holes” depend on the size of the instrument. Fat is especially prone to scarring.
2. A full tummy-tuck incision runs from hip to hip, low enough for underwear to cover but noticeable in swimwear and intimate situations.
3. Nose jobs leave a fine-line. Facelift wounds are positioned to blend in. Eyelid skin is so thin keloids may appear.
4. Breast enlargement or reduction scars respond especially well to silicone therapy, available in scar reducer home treatments.

An irony of cosmetic surgery is that afterward, doctors often prescribe scar removal called “revision”; that is, more plastic surgery to treat color and size.

For a list of scar removal products, please click on here —> Scar Treatment Reviews

Scar Ointment: Gels, Creams and Good Advice

Here is medical advice about over-the-counter or prescription creams, scar ointments or gels.

• These products can be used to treat scars that are caused from surgical incisions or other injuries or wounds.
• If you are under the care of a plastic surgeon and your scarring is the result of cosmetic surgery, ask your surgeon for his or her recommendation
• (Prescription) treatments can include corticosteroids or certain antihistamine creams for scars that ccause itching and are extremely sensitive.
•   Reviewed by doctors at the Cleveland Clinic Department of Plastic Surgery

Doctors acknowledge over-the-counter treatment is often sufficient.

• Scar (ointment) may help reduce the appearance of some scars.
• Results vary — and no scar can be completely erased.
• If you’re concerned about the appearance of a scar, ask your doctor about other treatment options.
• Possibilities may include…silicone-based products, laser treatment, or collagen or steroid injections.

                                                            Source:  mayoclinic.com

Silicone-based products are frequently used as parallel therapy with laser treatment, collagen or steroid injections, and dermabrasion.

Scar Home Treatment: Natural Ingredients in Scar Removal Products

You will hear about natural products in a host of scar removal products .Fortunately, medical research tackled common ingredients and whether they work as a scar reducer.

The results can help identify scar home treatment that can be effective. 

A South Florida Medical Research Center studied topical scar compounds. The doctors evaluated silicone and vitamin E.

 Vitamin E 

1. This natural substance is marketed in scar removal products.
2. Pure vitamin E applied directly to scars is considered natural therapy. 

The doctors reported “no significant” reduction in color or size of scars from Vitamin E applications.

Onion extract 

A major Texas medical school put it to the test. 

• They wanted to know if it reduced redness and itching.
• They also checked for change in the size of scars.
• People with surgical scars were evaluated.
• Only half were given an onion extract scar ointment. 

The study found onion extract to be ineffective.

Scar Help: The History of Silicone and an Understanding of How it Works as a Scar Reducer

In the early 1980s, a US doctor coated a polymer sheet with silicone gel. He was trying “pressure treatment” to reduce scarring. All he wanted was for the sheet to spread evenly over a scar. He thought a coating of silicone would do the trick.

He ended up discovering scar help. The silicone acted as an improved scar reducer. Scar size decreased more rapidly than with pressure treatments without silicone.

Silicone:  How and What

In spite of major studies, doctors don’t know how it works.

A preeminent theory involves static electricity. Silicone scar ointment attracts static electricity. The electrons may break up thick fibers, flattening scars.

With major studies, doctors know what it does.

One proven benefit involves silicone’s ability to help cells retain moisture. Moisture always facilitates healing, which reduces scar size and color.

Silicone in topical or dressing form protects a scar from irritation and infection. Infection halts healing, which increases scarring.

Scar help in practice

• Silicone cream is now commonly used after plastic surgery. Doctors in the UK routinely employ silicone scar help alongside various surgical treatments.
• It is frequently used in the US for continued scar help after laser scar removal.

• Silicone in gel or cream form replaces self-adhesive silicone sheets that won’t stay on joints and flexible body parts.
• Massage deepens delivery of silicone, and can break up tough scar fiber.

For a list of scar removal options, please click here —> Scar Products

Best Scar Removal: Darker Skinned People Will Want to Know

A major study of scar treatment products on brown skin delivered the following results: 

Silicone was kept on serious scarring for 12 hours a day. 

1. Doctors documented moderate improvement in 50% of cases.
2. Improvement appeared within a span of 3 to 6 months.
3. The study recommends this scar treatment can also be used as a preventive method immediate after a surgical wound has healed.
4. Of all non-invasive treatments, the doctors report silicones seem to be generally the only ones that are able to manage scarring without significant side-effects.

                                                Source: Dermatotherapy and Cosmetology Center, Pune, India 

The study occurred in India 

South Asian skin is brown to dark brown. Brown and African skin tones are most prone to serious scarring. Doctors hoped to find the best scar removal that was effective, inexpensive and non-surgical. 

• This particular study focused on keloid scars, which are disfiguring tissue growths, because ethnicity is a key factor in formation of keloids. 

The study also found pressure combined with silicone impacted keloid size.

Scar Fading: Scar Color is Natural and Responds to Scar Fading Products

Most scarring is red or brown. It’s the natural color of the woven skin cells that form during healing. 

Scar fading can be readily accomplished. Not everyone knows what to call it, or what expectations to set.

Many people seek what they refer to as a scar reducer. Others search for the best scar removal option. Help, treatment, revision. Here’s the goal: 

• Reducing color can make a mark look smaller.
• Scar fading gives the appearance of a flatter scar.
• Facial fading treatments can ease embarrassment. 

A medical study of silicone gel found one in three people experienced scar fading. Lasers are effective over time. Dermabrasion is effective on protruding pigmented skin. When fading is the goal, surgery may be extreme as it leaves another scar. 

A health note: Bright redness can mean a scar is infected, and you should see a doctor.

Scar Treatment: Weighing the Options and the Costs

The most common scar treatments, according to the Cleveland Clinic. 

• Over-the-counter and prescription creams, ointments and gels.
• Surgical removal
• Surgical treatments including derm abrasion, lasers and skin grafts.
• Injections including collagen and steroids

 Ranking the options by cost, from most expensive to least. 

1. Surgical excision.
2. Laser surgery.
3. Derm abrasion.
4. Cortisone or steroid shots.
5. At-home silicone scar removal cream or gel.

All five options have been shown to be effective. There is no clear-cut method for ranking the effectiveness of each of the scar treatments.

•  Everyone scars differently,
• Everyone heals at different rates.
• All scar treatments except surgical removal involve repeated treatments.