The human body can sustain a variety of injuries, including penetrating trauma, burn trauma and blunt trauma. All of these injuries set into motion an orderly sequence of events that are involved in the healing response, in which the normal functional tissue (skin) is replaced by connective tissue (scar) and the healing response is characterized by the movement of specialized cells into the wound site.

There are a variety of different scars that can be formed after an injury has occurred. The following is a brief explanation of some of these types of scars.

What are pigmentary scars? A pigmentary scar is the result of multiple types of injury and can appear anywhere on the body but commonly means that there is no textural alteration in the skin, but the skin is basically discolored relative to normal skin color. A pigmentary scar can be light, lighter or darker or redder than the normal skin and requires to be addressed very carefully in repairing with surgical or laser methods. Caution is important because over-correction of the scar will leave a scar of a different color more hard to treat.

What are hormone-induced scars? Hormone-induced scars usually refer to melasma hormonal pigmentary disorders, which usually happen exclusively in female but not always. And they are usually on the face but not exclusively. Also, they are extremely hard to treat. Melasma or hormonal coloration change requires very slow, step-wise reversal medically with the use of lasers and requires lifelong adequate use of sunscreen to keep clear.

How are acne scars treated? Acne scars can appear anyplace on the body, not only the face. They can be of various shapes and depth and can be treated in numerous ways: sometimes using chemical peel methods, other times using surgical scar removal laser or micro-dermabrasion methods, and with natural topical creams. No matter of the scar or number of scars, it is a long-term process to efficiently minimize acne scar visibility.

How are animal bite scars treated? They're usually treated by blending them to the surrounding non-scar skin. Common blending includes topical medical products to soften the scars -like rosehip oil-, followed by resurfacing laser and microdermabrasion techniques for blending surface quality. And if there is a remaining color mismatch then oftentimes, permanent make-up, tattooing, is employed at the end.

Is cortisone still used as a treatment for skin scars? Cortisone can be used both topically and by injection into the injury to induce better healing and scar formation reduction.

There is great artistry needed for the injectible cortisone to work well and it is best performed by someone who clinically does this frequently.

Topical Treatments When thinking about topical natural products we must take into account that our skin is a barrier to exterior environment and will not let all products that claim to be cosmetic or dermatological ingredients into it, in the same way as it does not permit most airborne pollutants into it.

The truth is that the skin works as a filter to assess and decides the relationship - the user-friendliness, if you will - to the inner body itself. The skin is a very accommodating organ. It is made to adapt to the environment so it can help to keep us safe in any given climate. The most immediate environment to our skin is what we put on it topically. Yes, the skin care and cosmetics we select.