Scars And Wound Healing

2008-02-09 Word Count: 533 Category: Beauty

A scar is a mark left on the skin after an external injury or wound has been treated. The human body was built to sustain a variety of aggressions, including penetrating trauma, burn trauma, etc. All of these incidents set into motion an orchestrated chain of events that are involved in the healing reaction, in which the healthy functional tissue (skin) is substituted by connective tissue (scar) and the healing reaction is characterized by the migration of specialized cells into the wound site, resulting in a scar.
Healing is the complex and dynamic process that results in the restitution of anatomical continuity and function. There are some basic reactions that can occur after a wound: regeneration (perfect replacement), average repair (reestablished equilibrium), excessive healing (fibrosis and contractures), and insufficient healing (chronic ulcers).
When a wound occurs; be it a cut or an acne infection, a variety of different cells come quickly to the aid of the damaged area and the complex healing process starts. This is the body's natural way of protecting itself from harm. However this innate defensive process commonly leaves behind scarring evidence, leaving you with a sudden need of removing acne scars.
Scars are composed mainly of collagen, a protein fiber normally found in the skin's second layer, these scars are the body's method of regenerating itself.
Luckily, so scars will disappear in time. For those that don't, new treatments like laser therapies can minimize them significantly. But your best option is always prevention.
The next list of do's and dont's is a simple acne scar treatment guide that will help you maintain new scars at bay.
DON'T
Don't cleanse wounds with hydrogen peroxide. The bubbles make it look like something beneficial is occurring, but hydrogen peroxide is known to destroy the new skin cells that immediately start to grow.
Don't treat your skin with vitamin E. Vitamin E has been proven in a University of Miami study to impair wound healing. (In addition, one out of three patients tested also developed an allergic response).
Don't expose new scars to the sun. Ultraviolet rays can slow the healing process and, since they stimulate melanocytes (the cells that produce pigment), can promote dark coloration. When you're outdoors, always apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher.
DO
Do cover an injury. If not protected, healing will be delayed by as much as 50 percent; wounds do not need to 'breathe', as some people say. Moisture prevents the formation of a hard scab, which works as a defense to the formation of new tissue. It's advised to treat the injured area daily with an antibiotic ointment like Neosporin (which will prevent infection, another obstruction to healing) and keeping it protected with a bandage. After a week, switch to simple Vaseline petroleum jelly and continue using it underneath the bandage until new skin grows over the wound.
Do maintain constant pressure on the wound with special bandages or silicone sheeting pads. Several studies have shown that products like these help to compress scars-including keloids, scars with hardened tissue that grow impetuously over their original limits.

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