Scars – the skin's repair sites

A fall down the stairs, a car accident or surgery: many of life's events leave their marks as small or large scars. Nearly everybody has one or even more scars to remind him of such situations. Scars cannot only cause considerable pain when near joints and hinder mobility, but can also reduce self-confidence particularly when located on visible parts of the body.

Scars always occur when the outer layer of the skin, the epidermis is cut and the injury extends to the dermis. The organism is not able to replace the destroyed, highly specialized tissue in the same way. Instead, the wound is “repaired” with connective tissue. The resulting scar does not have good blood circulation, is sometimes uneven and is less elastic. In addition, major variations in colour are possible. Very noticeable scars often occur with injuries near joints or parts of the body subject to frequent movement and tensile forces.  

Scar typology

Ideally, a scar should be level with the skin around it once the healing process has finished. It should then only be visible as a fine, light-coloured line on the skin. However, the results of the wound healing process are often unsatisfactory. We distinguish between the following types of scars depending on their appearance: atrophic and hypertrophic scars and keloids. 

• The hypertrophic scar

The morphological characteristic of a hypertrophic scar is the excessive formation of the scar, due to an increased number of collagenous fibres. Bulgy, connective tissue raises above the surrounding skin level, however limited to the original wound area. Immature hypertrophic scars show a reddish colouring and tend to be itchy.

• The keloid

Keloids often develop long after the wound healing has been concluded. Surplus production of connective tissue fibres is so excessive that it causes the scar to spread widely beyond the original wound area onto healthy skin. Keloids have a reddish colouring and they itch, burn, prickle and can often be painful. Treatment of keloids is rather difficult since surgical removal is often followed by relapse. The disposition towards scar keloids is often genetic and increasing numbers of young women are being affected.

• The atrophic scar

Atrophic scars lie below the surrounding skin tissue level. These small depressions are produced when insufficient new connective tissue fibres are formed during the healing process. Typical atrophic scars are acne scars.

Scar Reducer - gentle self-treatment

No scar can ever be completely removed and treatments will always leave a trace but a number of approaches have been tried such as dermabrasion, laser treatment, radiotherapy or injection of corticoids or collagen. But also less invasive topical treatments e.g. with silicone gel sheeting are now having a widely accepted role in general scar treatment.

Hansaplast® Scar Reducer with its many years of experience in the field of wound treatment and plaster technology offers a product designed to reduce thickened and reddened scars and to make them less visible. The Scar Patches are made of skin-friendly polyurethane material and improve hypertrophic scars and keloids cosmetically and functionally.

Mode of action: activates two principles - temperature and pressure

In clinical studies it could be shown that the remodelling process in the scar tissue is supported and that these pads would raise both, temperature as well as blood circulation within the scar tissue¹. At the same time, hypertrophic scars become paler, flatter and smoother^2,3. Polyurethane could be shown to be as effective as silicone, but faster and more tolerable⁴. First results become visible after 3 to 4 weeks with significant success expected after 8 weeks of continuous treatment^1,3,4.

Before treatment                                   After treatment

Hypertrophic scar after surgical treatment of a clavicle fracture 2 years ago

The same scar after 8 weeks of treatment for 12 hours a day

Sources

^{1 Klopp R et al. Effect of four treatment variants on the functional and cosmetic state of mature scars. Journal of Wound Care 200; 9(7):319-324}

^{2 Schmidt, A. et al. Treating hypertrophic scars for 12 or 24 hours with a self-adhesive hydroactive polyurethane dressing. Journal of Wound Care 2001;10(5):149-153}

^{3 Mensing H. et al. Hydroactive polyurethane dressing for the treatment of hypertrophic scars and keloids. Aktuelle Dermatologie 2003; 29:230-235}

^{4 Wigger-Alberti W et al. Efficacy of an adhesive polyurethane dressing on hypertrophic scars in comparison to a silicone adhesive sheet. Poster Presentation, EADV 2007}