The Best Treatments to Minimize Scars

You don't need to have major surgery to have a scar — acne, chicken pox, cuts, and burns can all leave permanent marks on your skin. It’s nearly impossible to completely remove a scar, but you can minimize the appearance of one so that it’s close to undetectable. Here are a few strategies to get you started.

Home Treatments to Minimize Scars There are several pretty effective strategies you can use without resorting to a doctor’s intervention. Most revolve around massaging salves or creams onto the affected area several times a day — you need to stick to the regimen faithfully if you want to successfully minimize scars and improve their appearance. Here are a few ideas:

• Silicone sheets. Applying silicone sheeting to scars has shown some promise in helping them fade and shrink. You need to apply a piece of silicone to the affected area and leave it on for up to a week at a time.
• Pressure dressings. For raised scars — including keloids — a pressure dressing helps “push” the scar down to flatten and heal it.
• Hydrocortisone. If your scar itches, applying hydrocortisone cream will keep you from scratching the area and making it look worse.
• Sunscreen. If your scar is on your face or another area that's regularly exposed to the sun, it’s important to wear sunscreen daily — because the scarred area will not tan, it will appear more prominent when the surrounding area becomes darker.

Professional Treatments to Minimize Scars For severe scarring or scars on your face or other prominent spots on your body, you may want to seek the help of your doctor in treating the scars.

• Surgery. It may seem counterintuitive, but surgery can actually be used to minimize scars. A severe burn scar may be removed through the use of skin grafts, and lasers and dermabrasion can help slice away scar tissue. For less severe scarring, from acne or chicken pox, amicrodermabrasion treatment can help smooth the skin’s surface, minimizing the scars.
• Medications. Your doctor may decide to inject steroids into the scar tissue to help make it shrink, or collagen to help smooth out pitted scars from acne or chicken pox. Neither of these is a permanent solution, though, so you may need to go back for more injections in the future.
• Other treatments. For scars that are discolored, a doctor may suggest a chemical peel or evenskin bleaching to help lighten the scar and improve its texture so it blends in better with the surrounding area.