Scars are an inevitable part of living. A scar results when the skim repairs itself after being injured from an accident, illness, or surgery. Scarring is just a natural part of your body's healing process. Depending on the severity of the wound, it usually takes a scar at least three months to dim. On the other hand, no scar fully disappears. Here are some of the ways that you can use to approach a scar and hopefully you can find it useful.



Give it a good massage. After you have moisturized the scar, gently massage the tissue in circles, first clockwise, then counterclockwise, and then across. This will promote blood flow to the area and help to soften and break down the old scar tissue, promoting the growth of new and healthy tissue in its place.

Try not to move around. As much as possible, keep the injured skin mobilized because moving or rubbing increases the chances that the scar will become large and prominent. The same goes for any friction you expose the wound to. Try to protect the cut from any type of trauma that would re-injure the wound.

Keep your skin exposed to sunlight to a minimal. Scars do not change color as much as normal skin does when exposed to the sun. This, of course, makes them more visible every time you are exposed to the sun or sunburned. Use a sunscreen with a sun protection factor of at least 15 to block sun and reduce the differences in color between your normal skin and scar tissue.

Clean the wound daily. You are more likely to form a scar if there is an infected wound. Clean the wound thoroughly daily with soap and water and then apply some form of antibiotic ointment.

Moisturize the scar. Depending on your condition, you can shrink the amount of scar tissue and its appearance by moisturizing the scar. There are over-the-counter dressings that contain silicon or a silicone derivative that can be applied directly over the scar. These dressings can be worn overnight and literally can shrink the scar tissue.

Keep the skin moist. If the skin is moist, you are in fact optimizing the environment for healing and for promoting healthy skin to grow over the wound. Therefore, a wound heals more effectively if it is kept moist, as opposed to keeping it exposed to the air and allowing it to dry. You may even apply some topical ointments and petroleum jelly and even cooking fat to the wound, which will keep the wound moist and expedite the healing process.

Try multivitamins, zinc, and beta-carotene. Use a multivitamin that contains about 500 to 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C, between 200 to 400 international units (IU) for vitamin E, and up to 2,000 IU of beta-carotene. As for zinc, take about 15 milligrams. All these multi-vitamins, beta-carotene, and zinc boost the immune system and promote healing.

No matter how severity of your wound, the suggestions highlighted will improve your overall healing process and make the scar dims.