What are the 4 types of scars?

How do I know what kind of scar I have?

Dermatologists at NYU Langone determine the type of scar by evaluating its size, location, and texture during a physical exam. Scar tissue, which consists of a tough, fibrous protein called collagen, forms when the body repairs a wound. Common causes of scars include injury, surgery, and infection.

What is the most common type of scar?

Hypertrophic scars are one of the most common forms of scarring. Although they look similar to keloid scars, hypertrophic scars are caused when there is too much collagen in the skin, giving it a raised appearance.

What are the 3 types of scars?

What type of scar is a surgical scar?

A hypertrophic scar is a thick raised scar that's an abnormal response to wound healing. They more commonly occur in taut skin areas following skin trauma, burns or surgical incisions.

Types of Scars - Daily Do's of Dermatology

Why do scars have different colors?

The color of a scar depends on a number of factors including wound severity, genetics, skin type, and environmental factors. It is important to understand that there is no normal range of color for scars.

What is a contracture scar?

Contractures are an abnormal occurrence that happens when a large area of skin is damaged and lost, resulting in a scar. The scar formation pulls the edges of the skin together, causing a tight area of skin.

How many different types of scars are there?

There is only one type of scar. The appearance of a scar depends on the nature of the wound that produced the damage, the anatomical location of the wound, and a variety of genetic factors that are different for each individual.

What are superficial scars?

Superficial Scars — this type of scar is long and thin. It may be slightly raised and red in the first few months, but then usually flattens and heals neatly. Hypertrophic Scar — this type scar has an over-active wound healing process and has generated additional collagen.

How many scars does the average person have?

Most people have at least one scar on their body and luckily, for the majority of us, it does not cause any real upset.

What are pitted scars?

What are pitted acne scars? “Known as atrophic scars in the world of dermatology, such scars form a hollow pit or indentation on the facial skin as a result of recurrent moderate-to-severe acne," says Dr Madhuri Agarwal, founder of Yavana Aesthetics Clinic.

What does an atrophic scar look like?

Atrophic scars are characterized as a sunken area on a person's skin, often looking pitted. In many cases atrophic scars are caused by collagen destruction as the result of experiencing inflammatory conditions such as acne or chickenpox. Atrophic scars can also be caused by accident, surgery or genetic disorders.

Do scars Ever Go Away?

Most scars fade over time and don't cause long-term health problems. How a scar changes depends on its location, size and type. A scar may fade so much that you can barely see it, but it never completely goes away. Some scars cause problems months or years later.

What is a regular scar called?

Also called: Cicatrix, Keloid scar.

What does a dark scar mean?

There are a few reasons why a scar might turn dark. For example, if a scar was exposed to sunlight during the healing process, there's a good chance the scar tissue will become pigmented. Dark scars can also be caused by inflammation, poor healing, or the genetics of your skin and how your skin heals.

What were the two types of scars?

There are two types of abnormal scarring: hypertrophic and keloid.

What is an indented scar called?

Indented scarring, clinically known as atrophic scarring, occurs when an injury to the skin or an inflammatory skin disease such as acne results in the destruction of its underlying collagen or fat layers.

What part of the body scars the easiest?

Thick skin has the tendency to lead to greater scarring than thin skin. Some areas of the body like the soles of your feet and palms of your hands contain thick skin. Skin found in the eyelids and behind the ears (postauricular region) is thin.

What does a white scar mean?

White scars, or “hypopigmented” scars, are due to a loss of melanocytes that manufacture pigment. This loss is usually permanent, but can sometimes be improved by fractional laser resurfacing, which allows some of the pigment cells to migrate back into the lighter-colored skin areas.

What color are scars?

In the initial stages of wound healing, the wound and developing scar appear red or reddish-purple. This is because the injured area sends signals to the body to direct more blood flow to the area to help the healing process.

What is depressed scar?

Depressed scars, also called icepick scars, sit below the surface of the skin and have a sunken or pitted appearance. They can result from acne or chicken pox, and they may become more pronounced with age.

Do scars contract over time?

Scar tissue is not made from the same great material you were born with. Scar tissue is contracting and tightening for 6 months to a year and can be dry and irritated. Learning how to care for scar tissue can improve your surgical outcome.

What is atrophic acne scars?

An atrophic scar is an indented scar that heals below the normal layer of skin tissue. Atrophic scars form when the skin is unable to regenerate tissue. As a result, it leaves behind imbalanced scarring. Atrophic scars are often the result of severe acne or chickenpox.

Do scars grow with you?

A keloid scar is an overgrowth of tissue that happens when too much collagen is produced at the site of a wound. The scar keeps growing, even after the wound has healed. Keloid scars are raised above the skin and can be pink, red, the same colour or darker than surrounding skin.

Why do scars not go away?

Even though individual cells within the skin periodically die and are replaced with new cells, the scar collagen remains. The only time when wounds will heal without producing scars is during the fetal stage of life, when the skin produces fetal collagen, a protein that is different from adult collagen.