Scars are an essential and necessary part of the skin's natural healing process. This is because scars develop to close and protect an open wound. If scars and scar tissue did not exist, the mortality rate would skyrocket due to the fact that other than minor wounds those that had any sort of puncture or open wound would not be able to close and heal their injury.

After a scar develops, it essentially becomes part of the skin as it replaces the missing skin. While scar tissue is very similar to normal skin, it does not regenerate itself and therefore requires treatment if one wishes to diminish the appearance of their scar.

This is not to say that a scar won't naturally heal over time, it is just that when you use a scar treatment such as a scar cream or scar removal gel or pad, it will heal faster, more efficiently, and more completely.

Hypertrophic and Keloid Scars

Scars develop into a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are small such as accidental scars or minor surgery scars including plastic surgery scars, while some scars appear large, raised, and discolored such as Keloids or Hypertrophic scars. Keloid scars in particular are especially dangerous as they can expand beyond the original boundary of the scar. A Keloid scar or Hypertrophic scar may require surgery, however, in most cases, all that is needed is an over-the-counter scar treatment.

This is because most reputable scar treatments contain silicone which is the single most important ingredient in an effective scar treatment. Essentially, silicone acts as a physical barrier over the scar. The silicone barrier not only protects the scar from physical damage, but also allows the scar to retain moisture from the surrounding healthy portions of the skin. This in turn will allow the scar to heal more quickly in addition to helping flatten raised scars such as Hypertrophic and Keloid scars.

Surgery Scars

If you have surgery, you will more than likely develop a scar. While the scar may be small such as one resulting from a small incision, in some cases, the scar can be quite large such as one resulting from a Caesarian section.

Besides typical surgery scars, patients also develop scars resulting from plastic surgery. Plastic surgery scars are generally much smaller due to the fact that most elective surgery procedures require only a small incision.

However, despite their size, most patients who elected to have plastic surgery are very conscience about their appearance and therefore are more likely to notice their scar.

If you have a surgery scar including a plastic surgery, you may want to consider using a non-prescription topical scar treatment to help diminish your scar. However, much like more serious scars including Keloids, it is vital that you choose a scar treatment that contains silicone.

Treatment Options

Remember that you essentially have two choices if you have a scar: treat it, or ignore it. If you choose to ignore your scar, you will begin to see that it will slightly improve over time. However, most people choose to use a topical scar treatment so that their scar will heal quickly and efficiently.