How to Treat Scars

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How to Treat Scars

Scars are part of the body's natural healing process. Most wounds, except for very minor ones, result in scarring. Read on to find out how to treat scars.

Treating scars

How to make scars lighter

I Have Unsightly Scars.

Scars are part of the body's natural healing process. Most wounds, except for very minor ones, result in scarring. Scars result from diseases, skin conditions like acne, accidents and surgeries. You can also scar when your skin stretches rapidly.

Scars form when your skin is damaged deep down. Scar tissue has a different look than the surrounding skin. It can be flat and pale, or red and raised. Raised scars are often called keloids. Sunken scars occur when structures below the skin (like fat or muscle) are also wounded. Acne scars and surgical scars can have this sunken appearance.

If you don't like the way your scars look, you have a few treatment options. You can treat scars at home with several different treatments. Mederma, Scar Away, and New Skin are just a couple of the products available to help reduce the look of new or old scars. These products start working in about 4 to 6 weeks. You can also use Emu Oil or Vitamin E oil on your scars to help loosen the scar tissue. The massage action aids scars in healing faster. Make sure you always use sunscreen on your scars as well; skin damage resulting from sun exposure will only make your scar tougher to heal.

If you want to see a doctor or dermatologist, you can ask about steroid injections, dermabrasion or laser resurfacing. Steroid injections help flatten keloid scars. Dermabrasion works well on raised scars. Laser resurfacing removes the surface layers of the skin, evening out the area.

Acne scars and other smaller scars are easily hidden by the right makeup techniques. For red scars, try using a green tinted concealer to neutralize the color. Then apply a foundation that matches your skin tone.