Many doctors advise getting started on home scar therapy as soon as a wound is no longer open.

1. Silicone scar cream or gel is one of the few products proven to help improve scars. Use it consistently for the first two months at least. The longer, the better.
2. Massage the scar for 5 minutes, 3 times a day until it is soft and flat.  This may take a few months. Scar cream, used as a massage ointment, can double the effectiveness of this self-therapy.
3. Keep the wound moist.  Scar creams made of silicone promote moisture. A moist wound scars less.
4. Protect against infection.  An infected wound is slow to heal, increasing scarring. Scar creams form a defensive barrier against infection.

Your surgeon won’t touch a scar for many months.  A head start on treatment is recommended.

A technique to permanently prevent scars will rely on a topical scar cream, just as silicone therapy is currently applied directly to a wound or scar.

New research from the University of Bristol may prevent the “scar gene” from switching on.

• The experiment relied on cream applied directly to the scar.
• This is the technique proven to make silicone scar treatment effective.
• Clearly the researchers saw no need to improve on cream as an effective conduit for healing.

It should be stressed that gene therapy is in the experimental phase.  For now, topical silicone treatment is the standard for direct scar treatment.

Says Professor Paul Martin,the doctor in England heading up the study, “We hope that it won’t be too long before (gene) therapies are available.”