how do silicone scar sheets work to fade scars?
In: Biology
It essentially works at a small but constant massage to the scar tissue. Every time you move the scar under the silicone moves and it massages/spreads the scar tissues in the same direction. It’s effective because it’s a passive treatment that goes on for hours and hours everyday. Just place the sheet over the wound, wrap it and you’re good. The added bonus is the massaging aspect is done in the same directions and amount as that specific area of skin.
Newly forming scars are undergoing a specific healing process called maturation. I’ll save you the full explanation, but basically “new skin” is being laid down from edge to edge of the wound. It’s obviously now the exact same skin, it’s scar tissue, which is extremely strong and resistance to stretching/tearing in all directions. Think of scar tissues as a bunch of little fibers. When these fibers get laid down in all directions, they aren’t always perfects they might overlap a little from a side to side or vertical direction. New scar tissue fibers are more malleable and can be rearranged to be more parallel/in better alignment. The constant and direction-specific movements help the scar tissue laid down more flat. This helps with appearance of the scar and mobility of the skin and scar. Poorly healing/managed scars can actually restriction your flexibility. Nerves, skin, and muscles all need to stretch when you move!
It’s like creating a stack of paper by hand, every once in a while you wanna pick the stack up and tap the edges on the table to line the individual papers up and create a nicer stack of paper that takes up less room.
Source:
I finish PT school in 3 weeks and take my licensing exam in about 7 weeks 🙂
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