Acne Scar Treatment and Other Treatments for Scars on Your Skin
Perhaps the only revered scar in history is Al Pacino’s Scar Face. Other than that, people hate scars and are constantly trying out new methods to treat their scars and make them go away.
What is a scar in the first place? Why do we have them?
When our skin is burned, cut, scraped, or injured in any other way, fibroblasts – a group of special cells, work to produce a protein-like substance called collagen to block and seal the wound. Collagen makes up most of the scar tissue, and it is positioned randomly, which makes a scar easily noticeable. Scar formation, or scarring, is a part of the natural cycle of skin healing.
There are many types of scar, depending on the kind of injury your skin has encountered and how your skin reacts to such injury. These types include keloid scars, contracture scars, hypertrophic scars, and acne scars. Different factors also affect how your skin scars, such as the size and depth of the wound and the location of the injury. Your age, heredity, sex, and ethnicity are also factors to be considered.
Once you’ve acquired a scar, do not expect it to heal right away or totally disappear. You’ll only be wasting a lot of time, money, and frustrated effort if you spend your days worrying about your scar. The sad truth is that it’s not possible to entirely remove a scar.
However, there are ways to make a scar become less visible so you won’t have to feel insecure or embarrassed about them.
You don’t have to leave the house to avail yourself of a scar treatment. Some scar treatments involve domestic ingredients. For example, if you have onion in your kitchen, you can use its extract as an anti-inflammatory and for collagen control. Onion extract, which is also available as a gel, is known to help prevent swelling and reduce production of collagen in a scar. This way, your scar won’t take an abnormal shape. You can also turn to fruits. Natural fruit acids, such as alpha hydroxy acids, are used for exfoliation. Removing dead skin cells can help improve the appearance of your scar, and it can lessen redness, too.
Over-the-counter scar treatments abound. However, studies have shown that over-the-counter treatments only work for some and not for all who use them.
If home or over-the-counter scar treatments don’t give you satisfaction, you can also try surgery. There are many surgical treatments to choose from that can assist in the enhancement of injured skin. These include collagen and steroid injections, as well as laser treatment. Before you decide on a treatment, do consult with your health care provider first.
Collagen and steroid injections, as well as laser treatment, can all help improve the appearance of damaged skin. Your dermatologist or health care provider can help you decide if surgical alternatives are right for you. Also, if you’re interested in trying a non-surgical treatment, but aren’t sure where to begin, a health care provider can help with that, too.
With all these existing scar treatments, you should be able to find the one that works for you and your scar.