The skin, like most parts of the body, is made to repair itself in order to prevent the loss of blood and possible infection. When the body is injured, a 'collagen glue" is formed that the body deposits into the injured area for immediate defense and strength. Ideally, when the skin is healing, the damaged area should slowly be repaired and the collagen fibers replaced.

Scars and scar tissue are necessary in reconnecting the skin; any damage that harms the dermal layer will result in some degree of scarring. Immediately after healing, scars might appear a dark red or pink color but with time will soften, flatten and fade.

Total scar healing can actually endure for up to ten years. In children, the remodeling rate is high and scars heal quickly and are often rapidly eliminated from injured skin areas. Unfortunately, as we age, this remodeling rate decreases.

Keloid scars are actually thick, puckered, itchy scars that grow beyond the edges of an injury or incision and rarely regress. They appear when the body keeps producing tough, fibrous collagen after a wound has healed.

Keloids can begin from all types of injury to the skin: scratches, tattoos, insect bites, injections or even medical procedures. The most common areas for keloids to arise are the breastbone, the earlobes and the shoulders.

Hypertrophic scars, on the other hand, are limited to the original area of injury and will typically fade and flatten as time wears on. Both hypertrophic and keloid scars are raised scars, secreting more collagen than other scars, however, in hypertrophic scars you will see a lessening of collagen output after approximately six months.

Atrophic, or depressed, scars are characterized by decreased elasticity due to the loss of proper skin matrix. An example of an atrophic scar is striae distensae, also known as stretch marks.

Healing Scars Faster

One way to accelerate reparation and heal hypertrophic scars is to provoke a small amount of controlled skin damage with a needle, laser, acid, or other means, and then let the body repair processes rebuild the skin area.

A second scar treatment method is to use enzymes and activators of skin renewal fibroblasts to increase the body's natural reconstructing processes, healing scar tissue and obtaining even better final results. Fibroblasts are basal membrane skin cells that are the beginning step in constructing healthy skin, including those that eventually lend moisture, tensile strength and elasticity. These enzymes and activators are typically found in healing scar creams.

A Natural Serum to Heal Scars Quickly

Instead of an invasive scar revision treatment, try healing scars naturally with a serum collected from the garden snail that promotes skin regeneration and has similar properties to our own skin. It also manages dermal fibroblast and collagen production. By upping fibroblast growth and decreasing collagen output, you can prevent and decrease keloid and hypertrophic scarring and smooth out old surgery scars.