Our Super Easy Guide To Preventing Scars

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!