What makes a scar lighter or darker?

An excess of melanin moves to the injured area to speed up healing, and as a result, the surface skin becomes discolored, particularly around the edges of the original wound. Discoloration can occur in many different forms and levels of intensity, and colors can include shades of brown, gray, black, or red.

What determines if a scar is light or dark?

There are a number of reasons why your scar might change color over time, or why some scars appear different than others. The color of a scar depends on a number of factors including wound severity, genetics, skin type, and environmental factors.

What makes a scar lighter?

Laser treatments: Several types of laser and light treatments can make scars (including acne scars) less noticeable. Laser treatments use a particular wavelength of light to cause a particular action in the skin.

Why are my scars dark and not light?

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.

When do scars get lighter?

In time, some collagen breaks down at the site of the wound and the blood supply reduces. The scar gradually becomes smoother and softer. Although scars are permanent, they can fade over a period of up to 2 years. It's unlikely they'll fade any more after this time.

Why Does Dark Skin Scar Differently To Light Skin?

Why do some scars stay dark?

After injury or irritation, skin inflammation triggers an explosion of pigment production. All this color lingers in the area long after wounds heal, creating darker sections of skin and drawing unwanted attention to your scars.

Why do some scars turn white and some dark?

Dark scars or “hyper- pigmented scars,” can be a normal part of the healing process and will naturally fade over time. This can often be hastened with good sun protection, bleaching creams, and occasionally lasers or IPL. White scars, or “hypopigmented” scars, are due to a loss of melanocytes that manufacture pigment.

Do scars get darker before healing?

It can take up to 12-18 months after your injury or operation for a scar to heal. A normal scar will become darker initially and after a period of time this will start to fade. Dark scars can remain for years or indefinitely in people with darker skin.

Can massaging a scar make it worse?

You should massage your scars as instructed for at least six months following your surgery or injury. Massaging for more than six months will not hurt your scars and may actually prove beneficial.

Why is my scar light brown?

Scars typically turn brown in response to sunlight and the UV radiation found in the sunlight. Often lasers can be used to treat the hyperpigmentation in scars and reduce it.

How do you make surgical scars lighter?

Corticosteroid treatments: Injections of steroid are considered a first-line treatment for hypertrophic scars. Over time, these may help flatten and soften the scar. Laser therapy: Laser therapy is more effective in newly formed scars than in older scars. The lasers work by burning and flattening elevated scars.

What makes a scar more visible?

Scars can be more sensitive to ultraviolet light for more than a year. An inability to respond to 'photodamage' may lead to worsening inflammation and altered pigmentation. The latter phenomenon may make a scar more conspicuous relative to its surroundings.

Why are my scars so light?

Scars that appear white in color are called hypopigmented scars. Hypopigmented scarring is a common complication, particularly in patients who have undergone surgical procedures, deep or medium-depth resurfacing procedures, or have a prior history of traumatic wounds or burns.

Do scars get lighter or darker in the sun?

Too much sun exposure can cause a scar to discolor and not change to a nice faded line. The scar can also become more thick and hard. A new scar is any scar that is still pink while a mature scar is any scar that is the same color as your skin or slightly lighter in color.

What are the 3 types of scars?

What should a scar look like when healing?

You're in the home stretch: Your wound has filled in and a new surface has formed. This final period can last from 6 months to 2 years. You'll see some changes in your scar. It will go from looking thick, red, and raised to thinner, flatter, and more like your usual skin color.

How long does it take for dark scars to lighten?

How long does it take for hyperpigmentation to fade? Once what's causing the dark spots or patches is found and stopped, fading can take time. A spot that is a few shades darker than your natural skin color will usually fade within 6 to 12 months. If the color lies deep in your skin, however, fading can take years.

What is the best thing for scars?

If you want to try an over-the-counter product, silicone gel or silicone sheets have the best evidence they can help reduce the appearance of scars. For more serious scars like keloids, other treatments like cryotherapy, laser resurfacing, or scar removal surgery may be an option.

Do all scars eventually turn white?

Answer: Scar fading

Typically it takes a scar a full year to mature, at which time the color of the scar has faded. Everyone heals differently and people with darker skin can have darker scars.

Does vitamin E help with scars?

Conclusions: This study shows that there is no benefit to the cosmetic outcome of scars by applying vitamin E after skin surgery and that the application of topical vitamin E may actually be detrimental to the cosmetic appearance of a scar.

Why do my scars look worse some days?

Wound infection

The longer it takes for a wound to heal, the worse a scar will look down the road. When a wound gets infected, specialized skin cells known as fibroblasts won't work as efficiently because they are competing with the microorganisms causing the infection.

How can I lighten a scar overnight?

Cocoa butter works as a great moisturizer. It has lightening properties, which help fade acne scars and lighten skin tone. Take some cocoa butter and apply it evenly on your face. Leave it on overnight and rinse it off the next morning.

Why do some scars fade and some don t?

After a scar is first formed, the body continues to touch up its work where it can - which is why scars fade slightly over the years when left alone. But scar tissue does not get replaced by this process², which means that most scars, when left to heal naturally, will never fully disappear.

How can I make my scars look better?