Vault

Max value reached

Adding this item would put you over your total vault limit of $250. please review your cart to stay under the limit.

Our Super Easy Guide To Preventing Scars

27 January, 2023 - 06:38am by - Head Pixie | 6 Comments

by BR Tabatha

The above picture is of a woman who cares far too much about the state of her skin and should probably take a chill pill. That being said, as someone accident-prone due to having their head in the clouds 99.9% of the time I'm rather prone to hurting myself, resulting in a similar look on my face when I discover a fresh cut or scrape, which has led me to becoming quite good at basic wound care. (To be clear, we're not talking about serious wounds, gashes, animal bites or burns here. In those cases, and in the case of you being concerned about a wound that won't heal or any skin issue, you need to talk to a medical professional and get proper medical advice.) So how does one care for a wee wound, be it on your face or body, in order to minimise scarring and maximise healing? Read on...

Keep it clean

The first step is super simple - keep the area clean. Infection of a wound can increase the chance of scarring due to the length of time the area is inflamed for, which is why if you find yourself with a minor abrasion you need to gently wash it with a mild soap or cleanser.

Dry it out or moisturise?

Growing up I told that drying out a wound was the best way to get rid of it, to the point that I would dab perfume on it in order to hurry up the process. I could not have been more wrong. WORST ADVICE EVER. Moisturisation is key if you want to help a would heal without a scar, for the simple reason that it'll stop a scab forming, which is something you want to avoid because scabs tned to make the healing process longer. You don't need to use anything super fancy either, simply dabbing a little patroleum jelly onto the affected area will keep the skin moist.

Are you covered?

Another recommendation to prevent scarring is to keep your wound covered with a bandaid or bandage. Not only does this reduce the risk of bacteria getting into your wound, it can help to speed up the healing process. Got a face wound? Skin tone surgical tape can be cut to size and, despite not always being a perfect match to our skin tone, is a heck of a lot less obvious when applied to the skin than a corpse-coloured bandaid. 

Don't get handsy

It goes without saying but I'll say it anyway... don't pick at your wound, especially if it does end up scabbing. I know how tempting it can be, especially when it goes through an itchy healing period, but picking will not only open you up to the chance of infection, but will also further inflame the area, increasing the chance of scarring. 

While the above process won't always stop a scar from forming, it will help minimise the look of one. How to further minimise the appearance of existing scars? Well that's another article for another day. Stay tuned...

So, my lovelies, have you had luck seeing off a scar? What method did you use? And will you be trying any of our guide's tips and tricks next time the chance of scarring arises? Get chatting below!

Comments

Please sign in or register to add a comment.

14th April, 2023

Good tips. Unfortunately I scar easily and get keloid scarring which is very hard to make disappear

8th February, 2023

Oh man can't wait to read the follow up article. I have a terrible scar just below my knee from going down the Rere Rockslide in Gisborne. I went to the hospital but it still got super infected, and even with regular medical attention it still took months to heal, leaving a bad scar. Would lovevto reduce it!

4th February, 2023

I haven't been completely successful, but I think keeping a larger wound covered for a long time made the scar turn out a lot smaller than it would have been otherwise.

3rd February, 2023

No picking!!!!

1st February, 2023

I take a heap of Vitamin C if I get a wound. A friend gave colloidal silver and that works too.

30th January, 2023

I had a hysterectomy a couple of years ago and was left with quite a few scars. Rosehip oil worked wonders for me once they had healed. They’re barely visible now.

WELCOME TO NZ'S BIGGEST BEAUTY GUIDE!

READ AND WRITE REVIEWS ON YOUR FAVOURITE (or not so favourite!) PRODUCTS!

Sign up to receive our newsletter and stay up to date with all of the latest happenings here at Beauty Review!

You'll be the first to know about Trial Teams, Vault restocks and Giveaways.

We promise never to spam you - only to share the best in NZ beauty!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE MAILING LIST!