Health & Fitness
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XP: Scar help? Not really H&F...

I know this isn't h&f related, and I asked on another board, but thought I would ask here also. My 3 year old cut open her face today (she fell at school) and required "glue" (instead of stitches.)  The scar will be slightly under her eye, and it's pretty big, and today bright red.  The dr said that it will be bright red for awhile and heal to a white scar, but it could take a full year.  Is there anything that you know of that I can apply to help her have minimal scarring?  I tend to prefer natural/organic type of products, but am looking for any idea.
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Re: XP: Scar help? Not really H&F...

  • Bio oil is great for scars. I used it to help heal a huge patch of scarred skin on my knee after a horrid skating accident. It, apparently, works on stretch marks too, but I'll let you know on that one hopefully shortly!

     

    http://bio-oilusa.com/en-us/

     

    You can get it on Amazon. 

  • Ds1 did the same thing at age 2, he got stitches though.  The plastic surgeon came in to take a look and sew up.  Now at age 5 you really really really have to look to even see it.

    They only thing they told us to do is while it was still pink was to put sunscreen on it, to keep exposer down.

  • Mederma - my sister has had 17 craniofacial surgeries since she was born (all necessary) and merderma has been the best thing to help her scars. 
  • I just had stitches removed my lip. The plastic surgeon said sunblock all the time. 
  • ditto the sunblock!  I have a pretty large scar from a surgery, and that was the only advice they gave me...........keep sunblock on it for the first year.    I followed it pretty well.    I kept a tiny tube of sunblock in my purse, and would put in on the scar throughout the day when it was exposed.  A few times I didn't have my sunblock, so I used spf lip balm, lol.   But I was super good about keeping it out of the sun, and it healed to be a nice color.   

     

  • My DD split her forehead open (also at school) the day before her 2nd birthday and required 14 stitches from the inside corner of her eyebrow straight up to her hairline.  After the stitches came out, we were told to rub Vitamin E oil on it twice a day and always apply sunscreen.  She's 3.5 now and you can still see it, but it healed really well.  I use the CA Baby stick sunscreen specifically for her scar - it looks very white, but the only time you can really see the scar is when she gets some sun, so I'd rather have her face look a little white from the sunscreen.  It did take two or three months before it stopped being red or pink.  Hang in there and hope your LO feels better soon!
  • The skin glue was used on an injury I had to my lip. I alternated Mederma and Vitamin E capsules. Though since then I've read more and think the latter might have been not so helpful (not harmful, but just not contributing to scar reduction).

    The injury happened 5 years ago and the scar is still somewhat visable, depending on the light. However, the person who applied the glue did so incorrectly -- instead of holding the wound closed and gluing it together, he put glue inside the wound and squished it closed. (Three days later I had to pull the glue out. Fun!) So I blame that for the visible scar more than the original injury.

    imageimage
  • Ditto everyone else on the sunblock. It will take nearly a year for the skin to fully re-grow and not be as sensitive, make sure that you put sunblock on it for that entire year to help the skin re-growth and minimize the scarring.

    Also like others said, Mederma is good. I am pretty sure that they make a kids formula.

    Also, your daughter is really young and still has youthful skin which will help her to have a lot less noticeable scar than if she were to do this in her 20s. Having the glue versus stitches will also help tremendously.

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  • Mederma to help the scar fade, and definitely sun block as well.
    imageimageimage
  • Vitamin E, in clinical trials for scar reduction, caused contact dermatitis in about half of the people using it.  So that wouldn' t be my first choice.

    Your daughter is young enough that sunscreen alone will probably give you the results you want. 

    image
  • Thanks everyone!  I wasn't primarily concerned about a scar when we were at the pediatricians office, so I forgot to ask about needing to put something on it as it heals.  Poor thing has a pretty good black eye today....
    Lilypie Kids Birthday tickers Lilypie Third Birthday tickers Planned Races 2012 Colorado Marathon (10k) May 6 Bolder Boulder (10k) May 28 Sierras race (5k) June 2 HITS Ft. Collins (sprint) July 28 Tri for the cure (sprint) August 18 Boulder Sunset (Olympic) Sept 1
  • I used Mederma after my melanoma surgery, it worked great!  I also kept this bandage on it that my dermatologist gave me, I wish I could remember the name of it.  It was basically nude-colored tape and just kept everything flat while it healed.

    Vitamin E oil is supposed to also be good for scars.

  • imageaeroluv327:

    I used Mederma after my melanoma surgery, it worked great!  I also kept this bandage on it that my dermatologist gave me, I wish I could remember the name of it.  It was basically nude-colored tape and just kept everything flat while it healed.

    Vitamin E oil is supposed to also be good for scars.

    Silicone patches. You can get them at your drug store. Band-aid makes one, but I have found that the generic brand works just as well.  Its basically a silicone patch with a neoprene backing meant to compress the skin so that it heals flatter. You can get them wet and you only ned to change it every few days.

    But I think you're supposed to wait 6 weeks post-surgery or injury to use them.

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  • No, they weren't silicone patches, they were like Steri Strips.

    http://www.nexcare.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/NANexcare/Nexcare/Products/?PC_7_RJH9U5230G8BD0IUC4S6IE3O33000000_nid=MZ41RD37BKgsTQT8JMH10GglS064LM717Kbl

    I could use them only a couple weeks after surgery (but I had traditional stitches, so the situation might be different).  But those silicone patches sound like they would do the same thing.

     

  • imagekristinanddan:
    Mederma to help the scar fade, and definitely sun block as well.

    This.... but according the the dr and pharmacists after my surgery, not until it is fully healed! Meaning about 3weeks to a month. They told me, put nothing but neosporin on until that point. I would suggest a hat over sunscreen until it is healed.

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