Scar Management

Scars form as a normal part of healing when the skin is damaged from a burn, trauma, or surgery. Everyone forms different scars.

It can take up to 1 year for scars to heal completely. It will take at least 6 to 8 weeks after surgery or injury for you to start to see a difference in your child’s scar. At this time, scars begin to change from a thick, red, raised scar to a thin, flat, white scar. It is important to use scar management techniques on your child’s scar. This will help to make the scar more flat, smooth and flexible. The more flat, smooth and flexible a scar is the less painful and noticeable it is for your child.

Scar management techniques are: scar massage, silicone application, and sunblock.

After the skin and deeper tissues have healed, the scar goes through four different stages of healing. Although the initial skin scar may be minimal, the scar will often enlarge and become more reddened over the following 4-6 weeks. An active scar is typically red, raised, firm and thick. Sometimes this change can be confused with infection. Also, the outermost layer often loosens while the deeper layers remain intact; this is normal as well.