Whenever the human body is injured, scarring will occur. From the formation to the stabilization of the scar, it needs to go through two stages: 1. Proliferation stage: the color of the scar will gradually become red, the texture will become hard, the thickness will become thicker and higher than the skin, and often combined with mild itching and pain. 2. Maturation stage: after entering the maturation stage, the color of the scar will start to darken, from bright red to dark red or brown, then slowly become lighter, the texture will start to become softer, the part higher than the skin will start to flatten, and the symptoms such as itching and pain will disappear until finally no more changes will occur and the scar will be stabilized. The itchy and painful symptoms also gradually disappear until finally no more changes and stability is reached. For normal surgical scars, this process takes about six months. For some deeper scars, scars with skin defects on the surface or scars with poor skin alignment, this process may take longer, usually 1-2 years, sometimes 3-4 years or longer.
In order to make the scar as inconspicuous as possible, it is important to intervene early to inhibit scar proliferation. If you wait for the scar to stabilize after six months, it will basically have little effect.
There are a lot of drugs that inhibit scar growth, and they are effective in the early stage of scar application, mainly MepiCare, Scar Enemy (Senka), Barker, and Kangrebo, of which the first two are for paste and the last two are for application. In terms of principle, MepiCare, Keloid Enemy and Barker are all silicone-containing dressings/oils that use the silica gel in them to produce the effect of inhibiting scar proliferation, which is the most commonly used at present; while Kangrebo contains onion extract, sodium heparin and allantoin, which have anti-inflammatory and scar-softening effects. These medications are usually started about a week after stitch removal. The wound must be clean and dry and completely healed at the time of use, without epidermal defects, oozing or scabs, and if there is a scab on the wound, you should wait for it to fall off on its own. Because most of the scabs underneath are not fully grown skin or trauma, picking off may affect the growth of the epidermis or even the wound healing. Due to the similarity of the principle, there is no need to reuse Mepiquette, Scar Enemy and Barker.
For wounds on exposed areas there is another important point to note: sun protection, otherwise the wound is more susceptible to UV rays leaving hyperpigmentation, so remember to wear sunscreen when you go out. All these anti-scar treatments need to be adhered to for at least 3-6 months until the scar stabilizes.