Scar Products
June 24th, 2009Hydroxy acids, like salicylic acid and glycolic acid, are extensively used as exfoliating substances and for skin peels. They remove devitalized skin cells and also loosen and slowly reduce or dissolve skin lesions like age spots, keloid scars, skin tags, moles, stretch marks, burn scars, acne scars, surgical scars, and sun damage marks.
The secret of hydroxy acid’s actions is that your healthy, flawless skin has an elevated resistance to such acids. In contrast, most skin lesions have a diminished structural integrity and are more easily broken down by the acids. The continued application of such acids over periods of one month or longer slowly reduces and even eliminates most skin lesions. This is basically a modification of the classic skin peel procedures where a very strong hydroxy acid (or other peeling agents like TCA or phenol) are applied as skin peels. Such methods work very well under ideal circumstances. However, hydroxy acids can be highly irritating if the subsequent regenerative response of the skin is inadequate to fully heal the acid-treated skin. If there is too little skin rebuilding, then the peeling agent can cause further scarring or inflammation.
Skin Abrasion Also Speeds Scar Reduction
Methods that mildly abrade skin like microdermabrasion and subcision (needling) also are useful in accelerating scar reduction in concert with Hydroxy Acids. Some old scars are very hard and persistent and physical breakdown allows the hydroxy acids to start dissolving the scars. For elevated or flat scars, microdermabrasion serves well. For depressed scars, like pitted acne scars, subcision with needles is often used by estheticians to break up the deeply buried scar tissue.
Skin Remodeling - A Solution for Reducing Scars
The elimination or reduction of scars, lesions, and stretch marks from the skin depends on a mechanism called “skin remodeling”. The skin is designed to treat wounds quickly to avoid blood loss and infection. Scars are manufactured from a quickly formed “collagen glue” that the body gathers into a damaged area for protection and strength. In perfect skin healing, the wounded skin is quickly closed, then the healed area is slowly rejuvenated to remove the residual collagen scars and blend the skin area into surrounding skin. Scar collagen is eliminated and replaced with a mixture of skin cells and invisible collagen fibers. This skin remodeling can continue in a skin area for 10 years. In children the remodeling rate is elevated and scars are often rapidly eliminated from injured skin areas. But as we reach adulthood, this rate decelerates and small scars can remain for years. One way to accelerate remodeling is to produce a small amount of controlled skin damage with a needle, laser, or other procedures, and then let the body’s repair processes rebuild the skin area. A second method is to use skin healing accelerators that elevate the body’s biological healing processes to obtain an even better final result.
Now you can get rid of scars, imperfections and skin discolorations thanks to a new skin care product made with biological ingredients that rejuvenate your skin.
- Cynthia Alleyne
