Scars
Scars
Get Rid of Acne Marks
and Other Nicks
Scars usually represent unpleasant memories that most of us would rather forget--the time you fell off your bike and scraped your knee, the night you tripped and gashed your chin, the day the car door hit you in the cheek when you were unloading groceries, even the night before your junior prom, when you decided to pick a zit.
"A scar is a raised or indented section of fibrous tissue formed by the body's healing process in response to an injury that penetrates the skin," says Mary Stone, M.D., associate professor of dermatology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
If the injury penetrates only the top layer of skin--the epidermis--the healing process may leave only a light, temporary mark, adds Deborah S. Sarnoff, M.D., assistant clinical professor of dermatology at New York University in New York City. But if the injury penetrates the body's deepest layer of skin--the dermis--then the body may form a scar.
Besides cuts, scrapes and burns, picking a pimple or scratching a chicken pox sore can also leave a scar (to say nothing of the scars left by surgical incisions).
CAMOUFLAGE AND PREVENTION
Women doctors offer these tricks for minimizing existing scars and preemptive strategies for preventing scars from forming in the future.
Send the scar under cover. If the scar is markedly lighter or redder than the rest of your skin, then any good foundation such as Dermablend or Covermark will do a good job of eliminating it, says Dr. Stone. It's best to check with the cosmetics salesperson at a local department store for help in selecting the right shade and applying it.
Apply a topical antibiotic. Once a wound is clean and bleeding has stopped, smear on an antibacterial ointment such as Bacitracin or Polysporin, says Dr. Sarnoff. Avoid Neosporin, since it is known to trigger an allergic response in a fairly large percent of the population.
Protect a wound. Contrary to what you may have heard in the past, letting cuts air-dry is not the best course, says Dr. Sarnoff. Air-drying kills extra tissue. "You get less damage to the skin if you keep it covered."
Instead, keep wounds moist by covering them with an adhesive bandage or other type of bandage right after you apply the antibiotic ointment, says Dr. Stone.
When To See A Doctor
If you cut yourself deeply enough that a scar is likely to form, see a dermatologist within six to eight weeks of the injury, says D'Anne Kleinsmith, M.D., a staff dermatologist at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. If the wound is on your face or another area that you rather not be scarred, a medical procedure called dermabrasion can prevent a scar from being as deep or noticeable, according to Dr. Kleinsmith.
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Keep the bandage on until the scab is fully formed, and make sure that you rebandage the wound every time the bandage itself gets wet, says Dr. Sarnoff. Although a moist wound aids healing, a moist bandage may encourage bacterial growth.
Take vitamin C. Since vitamin C can speed wound healing, take a vitamin C supplement while your skin is healing, says Dr. Sarnoff. Although the Daily Value is 60 milligrams a day, Dr. Sarnoff suggests taking 500 milligrams of vitamin C a day, half in the morning and half at night.
Leave the scab alone. Although it's tempting to pick at a loose scab, resist the temptation, says Dr. Sarnoff. Picking at the scab or knocking if off sooner than it's ready to go can cause a scar.
