Scarring Healing

Tips for Scar Tissue Healing and Removing Scars

Scarring healing can happen much more quickly when you know how to help your body to rejuvenate your skin. Learn tips for scar tissue healing and removing scars without expensive or dangerous surgeries.

Scarring is an important part of the healing process after a wound, injury or skin inflammation has healed. Acne scars and eczema scars are particularly frustrating as it can be difficult to control the outbreaks long enough for scar tissue healing process to begin.

Scarring healing generally happens in three phases. If you can take very good care of your wound AND your whole body right from the start, this will greatly aid your body in the scar tissue healing process.

Basics of Scar Tissue Healing

The scarring healing process generally takes at least a year to complete, and sometimes longer. Scars look different depending on which part of the body they are on, and will also vary quite a bit depending on the age of the person. It is thought that genetics may play a part in whether a person has a tendency to develop more noticeable scarring.

Scar tissue is not exactly the same as the original body tissue that existed before the injury, and it usually does not work as well. For example, hair follicles and sweat glands do not grow within scar tissue.

One exception to this is the healing process within bone tissue, which is capable of healing without losing its full capacities.

In addition to injuries or severe acne or eczema outbreaks, surgeries and cosmetic surgery also create scarring. Caring for the wound properly, and doing everything you can to improve your whole body's health will ensure that your scars will be as minimal as possible.

Stages of Scar Tissue Healing

Inflammatory Phase

First your wound stops bleeding, or your acne pimple finishes erupting. White blood cells fight off infections, and your amazing body begins the process of collagen formation. This inflammatory phase of wound healing and can last from two days to about week.

Proliferative Phase

Next your body continues to produce collagen, to pull the edges of the wound or acne sore together, and to produce new capillaries. The proliferative phase can cause red bumps in the wound and a thickening of the edges of the wound. Your body will produce cells to keep the wound clean, which causes it to look wet.

Maturation Phase

In the final phase of scar tissue healing, your body produces more collagen and slowly "remodels" the scar so that the excess collagen is removed and the scar becomes less noticeable. This is just one example of the many miracles our bodies perform each day! Over the next six to eighteen months time your wound can transform from red and raised to flatter and more white colored. Scars often do not reach their final appearance for up to two years.

Scarring Healing - Home Remedies for Scar Removal

There are many affordable home remedies for scarring healing that can help your scars to fade more quickly. I recommend that you wait until your wound is no longer wet or open so that you don't irritate your sensitive skin.

Please consult your doctor before applying any scar treatments to your wound, and please DO NOT use any scar removal treatments on your wound for the first two weeks.

These are some of the home remedies that people have found useful for removing scars. Please remember that like all natural remedies, you need to use them consistently over a period of at least a few weeks in order to see results.

Also, these natural foods and herbs may not work as quickly or effectively as creams that are specially designed for scar removal.  The problem with many scar removal products is that they can be irritating. 

Many young people with acne scars have had good results using the MRM MSM Scar Cream, but it can be irritating to some people with sensitive skin, so be sure to do a skin test first before using this or any other product.

Foods for Scar Treatment

Mother nature has many treasures locked within the humble foods and fruits and vegetables that we take for granted. These are a few foods that have been very effective in lightening or removing scars when applied directly to the scars.

• Lemon juice is considered one of the most effective home scar remedies, probably because of the vitamin C content.
• Tomato
• Banana
• Cucumber in juice form is an effective scar treatment and a good astringent for us after the other remedies.
• Onion extract has not been shown in research to be effective, but many people say it works!
• Cocoa butter
• Olive oil
• Ice has also been known to lighten scars

Vitamins for Scar Treatment

Stable topical vitamin C has been shown in research to help the body repair, rejuvenate and to lighten scars. Some vitamin C in skin care products can be irritating, however I've found the Cleure Day Cream , which contains Vitamin C Palmitate, is non-irritating and provides some protection to the skin as well.

Vitamin e scar healing is a popular homemade scar treatment although there is not yet a lot of research evidence to support the claims of its scarring healing properties.

In a small number of cases, Vitamin E can cause irritation or contact dermatitis for some people, so be sure to do a skin test!

Scarring Healing - Herbs for Scar Treatment

Herbs and plants have many healing properties which can help to lighten or fade scars, and to reduce their size. Be SURE to do a skin test FIRST to make sure that the herbs do not cause allergic reactions or skin irritation for your sensitive skin.

It is also important to choose high quality herbs that are not harvested with irritating pesticides. I am extremely picky about where I get my herbs, as I've found that there is a huge difference in quality depending on the companies you choose.

Most low quality herbs have fewer active ingredients and therefore they don't work as well. It has taken me a long time to find high quality, herbs that are affordably priced!

• Aloe vera gel - a deeply soothing and cooling gel that is widely used for soothing burns and all kinds of skin irritations, and is used to help with scar removal and scarring healing.
• Lavender oil - has a gentle, soothing and relaxing scent that is used for calming the nervous system as well as helping to reduce scarring. Lavender oil also has antifungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties, like most essential oils.
• Tea tree oil - is a powerful and widely used natural essential oil that has so many purposes both for skin rejuvenation, health, and even natural household cleaning! :-) Yes, on top of all of these household uses, it will help to reduce scars!!
• Rosewater and Sandalwood - this is a classic natural remedy for scars which works well, according to those who use it, however is extremely expensive! I have to say, the scent of sandalwood is incredible!!
• Green Tea is well known as a powerful antioxidant and can be taken internally as a tea and also used as a facial toner and rinse. Green tea does have some caffeine so use in moderation!
• Mint Tea when it is very high quality is incredibly refreshing, almost intoxicating (in a good way!!) and it has multiple health benefits. Drink internally and apply as a facial toner for scarring healing.

Natural Oils and Antioxidants for Scar Treatment

I've experienced a very powerful benefit for my skin by using healthy, natural substances to help rejuvenate the skin. Mother nature really has created such an abundance of blessings for us to heal!

I find that the quality of these natural oils and vitamins varies quite a bit depending on the manufacturer, and so I've gathered together the ones that I use personally, from companies I personally recommend that use high quality and very potent ingredients ... and that are also affordable!

Here are some of the best tpical treatments for scarring healing:

• Emu oil has a number of very potent medicinal and healing benefits for the skin and can reduce acne, scars, broken capillaries, facial redness and other skin problems.
• Wild Rose oil contains a potent mixture of essential oils which work together to heal skin damage and scarring. It is very concentrated so you need very little to get a good result!
• Tamanu oil is just recently being discovered and has been used in Tahiti for centuries to heal wounds and skin damage. It is affordable and has a nice nutty smell!
• Sea buckthorn oil is another newly discovered natural oil which is used to heal skin damage and scars.
• Topical vitamin C - There is a lot of research that suggests that vitamin C, applied to the skin can provide many benefits. In my own experience this can have quite a dramatic effect on some skin conditions. I've seen scars reduced or eliminated within a few days!
• Rose hip oil is very popular as a natural and affordable way to improve skin tone, reduce wrinkles, redness on the skin, broken capillaries and scars.

Medical Treatments for Scarring Healing

If you have severe scarring, you may want to consider medical treatment for removing scars.  I would recommend this ONLY after trying every other option, including a good quality scar removal cream.

Medical procedures tend to be more invasive and expensive than home remedies, and also carry more risks, but they can help especially in cases of severe scarring. Please consult your doctor to determine if any of these methods may be helpful for you.

Silicone in gel form or sheets that are applied to the body has been used successfully to reduce scarring especially after surgery.

I haven't been able to find a lot of reliable information about the safety of using silicone topically in this form, so you will need to consult your health professional and your own inner wisdom about whether this would be useful for your scaring healing process.

One of my readers reported that she broke out in a terrible face rash after surgery that used silicone sutures, so I would be cautious before trying this.

The silicone gels and sheets are somewhat pricey but are still much less expensive that surgical scar removal treatments.

Needling is a painful but less expensive method of promoting the formation of collagen, and needs to be done carefully and preferably with medical supervision.

Needling breaks down the collagen fibers and encourages the body to create new fibers, and is said to do this without damaging the top layer of skin.

There are some home products like the Derma Roller which use needling for anti-aging and scar removal treatments. You do need to be extremely careful using these products so that you do not damage facial nerves.

Laser resurfacing uses laser light to burn away portions of skin and can help remove scars and reduce their redness. It is an intense and expensive procedure with risks, and works best for people with lighter skin who do not get a lot of sun exposure.

Dermabrasion removes the top layer of your skin with a wire brush, and could be considered an extreme form of exfoliation. This is useful for raised scars but is not effective for pockmarks and scars that exist below the skin surface.

Collage injection can temporarily help scars below the skin surface to raise to the skin surface. You'll need to have regular treatments to maintain the benefits of this scar removal treatment.

Steroid injections can help flatten scars that are raised. This is not as harmful as other steroid treatments because the steroids do not enter the bloodstream. This does cause thinning of the scar tissue so should not be used for some surgical scars.

Speed Up the Scarring Healing Process

One of the most effective ways to speed up the scarring healing process is to strengthen your body's innate self healing and rejuvenating capabilities. Please request our free eBook which will demonstrate 5 simple steps to rejuvenating your facial skin and your whole body.