Most of us can say we’ve at the least a scar or two that we’re not fairly eager about and will have been making an attempt to eliminate ever for the reason that harm that spawned it. I’ve obtained a number of from having chickenpox 25+ years in the past, one from unintentionally stabbing myself whereas whittling a chunk of wooden, one other from a nasty steam burn whereas working in a espresso store, and one more from slipping on a dock and gouging my ankle. And people are simply those I discover every day. Not solely are these not-so-great recollections I might fairly not have tattooed on my physique, however they’re additionally a bit of ugly. These pure scar treatments work simply as properly—if not higher!—than costly store-bought lotions.
Meet the consultants
Molly Stanton, an skilled esthetician and the proprietor of Sage Lane Skincare in Santa Monica
Enrizza Factor, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist
Olivia Rose, N.D., a naturopathic physician and the medical director of Rose Health Clinic in Toronto
What are scars?
Scars are regular pores and skin reactions that type when there’s injury to the dermis (the deep thick layer of the pores and skin), explains Molly Stanton. “When the tissue is wounded, cells known as fibroblasts produce collagen to fix and restore the harm by creating new tissue that has a special texture and high quality than the encircling pores and skin,” she explains.
Sorts of scars
There are totally different sorts of scars. Most are flat and comparatively pale in comparison with the remainder of your pores and skin. Nonetheless, others could be sunken and pitted, which is commonly seen with pimples scarring, Stanton factors out.
There are additionally raised scars generally known as keloids or hypertrophic scars, which may develop after burn accidents, cuts, piercings, or pimples, notes Dr. Factor. She defines hypertrophic scars as a milder type of keloid scars that don’t lengthen past the boundaries of the pores and skin that sustained the preliminary harm.
How the scar heals might also rely upon the place it’s on the physique. For instance, wounds in locations the place there’s fixed motion will, after all, take longer because the tissue is being pulled and stretched always, in response to Stanton. Moreover, scars continuously uncovered to daylight could also be darker and extra obvious than those hidden below clothes.
If in case you have scars from cuts and scrapes, accidents, pimples, or surgical procedure, likelihood is no one else is noticing. However they will typically be annoying and make you are feeling self-conscious anyway. Whereas scars are inevitable (particularly should you’re clumsy like I apparently am), there are quite a lot of pure treatments you need to use to reduce their look.
12 At-Dwelling Scar Cures
Be aware that it might take constant purposes—day by day is right—for outcomes to be noticeable over time.
Placing on a regular basis merchandise into therapeutic use is enjoyable and offers me an excellent feeling. Who knew that there are such a lot of pure merchandise out there to assist your physique? Although these should not confirmed scar healers, they every have many helpful properties to provide your pores and skin an excellent probability of wanting its finest.
If in case you have some nasty scars and also you’re additionally battling stretch marks (aren’t all of us?), these scar therapies are natural stretch mark remedies, too!
1. Cucumber
Cucumbers deliver with them some anti-inflammatory results from naturally-occurring phytochemicals known as cucurbitacins [source] and the antioxidant results of flavonoids [source]. Thus, a cucumber masks or lotion can decrease irritation and presumably even the looks of scars on the face or physique.
Cucumbers even have lightening brokers [source] that can assist cut back residual redness.
Do this straightforward mixture at dwelling:
—1 peeled cucumber
—1 tablespoon natural Greek yogurt
Puree the cucumber after which combine within the yogurt. Apply the combination to your face or different affected areas, and go away it on for 10 minutes earlier than rinsing completely. Bonus: You possibly can eat it, too!
2. Frankincense essential oil
This important oil additionally has well-known anti-inflammatory properties [source] and helps deal with dry pores and skin. It has been used to reverse the signs of aging and cut back the looks of stretch marks and scars.
3. Rosehip seed oil
Combine frankincense oil with one other scar-fighting oil, rosehip seed oil, to make an anti-aging facial oil that additionally can be utilized on scars. Rosehip seed oil is excessive in antioxidants and important fatty acids that heal broken and dehydrated pores and skin [source]. It is a “dry” oil, which means that it soaks into the pores and skin simply and doesn’t go away a greasy residue, so you need to use a repair serum nearly anyplace in your physique.
4. Apple cider vinegar
Dilute ACV with anyplace from 1 to 4 elements water (relying on how delicate your pores and skin is), and dab or swipe that on utilizing a cotton ball to assist fade scars and solar spots. If in case you have acne-prone or oily pores and skin, do that surprise ingredient in an acne-fighting turmeric-ACV astringent to utilize the antibacterial results in apple cider vinegar [source].
5. Aloe vera gel
As a scar reducer, aloe vera is accessible and simple to use, notes Olivia Rose. “If in case you have an grownup aloe vera plant, you may minimize a leaf off, scoop out the jelly to apply to your pores and skin, and you’ll go away it on so long as you would like or put on a skinny layer of the jelly to mattress,” she says. “Constant use can fade hyperpigmentation, cut back scar tissue measurement, and provides the pores and skin a rejuvenated look.”
I’ve to say this labored wonders on my ankle scarring—you may nonetheless see some discoloration, nevertheless it’s not practically as raised because it was once.
6. Lemon juice
As one other nice therapy for pimples scars, lemon juice is thought for its bleaching motion when utilized in mixture with the solar, and it helps to fade any darkish discolorations. Mix it with aloe’s inflammation-fighting energy in an aloe-lemon face pack (you need to use it on different elements of the physique, too.)
7. Vitamin K cream or serum
Leafy greens are the perfect pure supply of vitamin Ok, which helps in blood clotting. On the subject of pores and skin, a topical application of vitamin K has been mentioned to assist decrease spider veins, bruising, scars, and stretch marks.
Bonus: Consuming your kale and collards will assist to advertise therapeutic from inside, too.
8. Baking soda
DIY magnificence experts swear by baking soda for discoloration and pimples scars. It is also a gentle exfoliant. It may be massaged round a healed scar to softly scrape off the highest layer of pores and skin.
Combine a bit of water with baking soda to make a paste, and apply it with a really mild therapeutic massage into moist pores and skin, then let it sit for 10 to fifteen minutes. (Maintain a heat compress on it for even higher outcomes.)
Bonus: It leaves your pores and skin child comfortable afterward.
9. Additional virgin olive oil
EVOO is thought for its wound therapeutic skill [source]. It helps loosen useless pores and skin cells and is claimed to lighten and soften scars. It’s cheap and available. You possibly can even go away a bit of olive oil on the affected space in a single day for additional moisturizing.
10. Cocoa butter
Cocoa butter (go for natural, uncooked variations if attainable) is a extremely concentrated fats that may penetrate deep into the pores and skin to heal, easy, and soften. Its antioxidants heal and assist to forestall the ageing results of UV rays [source]. This cocoa butter balm is nice to make use of if in case you have bigger scars as a result of you may cowl an even bigger space extra simply with a jar of this in style pores and skin butter.
Bonus: It smells like you might be on trip.
11. Lavender essential oil
Lavender oil has been proven to enhance collagen synthesis, which is the key constructing block of wholesome pores and skin [source]. Along with serving to deal with burns, eczema, and pimples, lavender’s therapeutic and soothing properties might also assist diminish scar tissue.
Lavender is gentle enough for skin you can apply a few drops to the affected space day by day (do a small check patch on the within of your elbow first should you’ve by no means used it earlier than).
Bonus: Lavender important oil is great to diffuse for anxiousness and insomnia.
12. Most moisture for pores and skin
It’s necessary to maintain the pores and skin moisturized and guarded. Pure emollients have lubricating properties which might be tremendous soothing to the pores and skin and assist decrease the looks of scars. Strive totally different mixtures of oils for the right scent and smoothness and to pay attention their antioxidant and softening energy on any troublesome spots.
For example, you may make one thing like this homemade scar lotion, which accommodates coconut oil, frankincense, aloe, wheat germ oil, and rosehip oil—a scar-fighting powerhouse.
As soon as you are feeling assured creating your individual wholesome merchandise at dwelling, you could not even wish to revisit the pharmacy for these chemical-laden moisturizers once more!
Scar Remedy FAQs
Can utilizing onions on the pores and skin assist the looks of scars?
Effectively, type of. A number of current research have proven {that a} gel containing onion extract (together with a number of different compounds) positioned on a wound proper after surgical procedure improves the look of the postoperative scar that can develop [source], stopping keloid scars from forming [source]. One examine confirmed enchancment in scars that have been already shaped after 3 months of therapy with a 5% onion extract gel [source]. And there are a number of products like this available on the market at present that comprise onion.
What causes keloid scars, and what can I do to forestall them?
Keloid scars are shaped when the collagen fibers in a therapeutic wound type a disorganized sample on account of a dysfunctional therapeutic course of. The scars find yourself wanting crimson, bunched up, enlarged, and uneven. This could occur after any sort of pores and skin harm, and the tendency for them generally runs in households. The mechanism is complicated however fairly properly understood, though why it occurs in some circumstances and never in others remains to be unknown [source]. A
ccording to the American Academy of Dermatology, there are some things you are able to do to forestall them, relying on the scenario. Keloids take time to develop, so that you’ll wish to look ahead to any signal of irregular therapeutic or thickening after a wound heals. For those who discover this occurring, you need to use silicone scar gel or a silicone gel sheet over the scar every single day for about 6 months to maintain it from enlarging additional [source]. You must also preserve the realm from all solar publicity.
This text was medically reviewed by Dr. Gina Jansheski, a licensed, board-certified pediatrician with greater than 20 years of follow expertise. Be taught extra about Hello Glow’s medical reviewers here. As all the time, this isn’t private medical recommendation, and we suggest that you simply speak along with your physician.
References:
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2. Serafini M, et al. Flavonoids as anti-inflammatory agents. Proc Nutr Soc. 2010.
3. Smit N, et al. The hunt for natural skin whitening agents. Int J Mol Sci. 2009.
4. Zhang Y, et al. Evaluation of anti-inflammatory activities of a triterpene beta-elemonic acid in frankincense in vivo and in vitro. Molecules. 2019.
5. Mármol I, et al. Therapeutic applications of rose hips from different Rosa species. Int J Mol Sci. 2017.
6. Yagnik D, et al. Antimicrobial activity of apple cider vinegar against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans; downregulating cytokine and microbial protein expression. Sci Rep. 2018.
7. Lin TK, et al. Anti-inflammatory and skin barrier repair effects of topical application of some plant oils. Int J Mol Sci. 2018.
8. Scapagnini G, et al. Cocoa bioactive compounds: significance and potential for the maintenance of skin health. Vitamins. 2014.
9. Mori HM, et al. Wound healing potential of lavender oil by acceleration of granulation and wound contraction through induction of TGF-B in a rat model. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2016.
10. Güngör ES, et al. The efficacy of onion extract in the management of subsequent abdominal hypertrophic scar formation. J Wound Care. 2020.
11. Melnyk N, et al. Current knowledge on interactions of plant materials traditionally used in skin disease in Poland and Ukraine with human skin microbiota. Int J Mol Sci. 2022.
12. Napavichayanun S, et al. Evaluating efficacy and safety of the topical silicone gel containing onion extract in the treatment of post-cesarean surgical scars. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2022.
13. Ye Q, et al. Medicinal plants for the treatment of hypertrophic scars. Evid Based mostly Complement Alternat Med. 2015.
14. Keloid scars: self-care. American Academy of Dermatology Affiliation web site.
