Why do scars sometimes hurt after they heal?
In: Biology
A scar is made of organic fibers weaved by specialized fibroblast cells as part of wound healing. Because the wound was too large or too deep, the body could not regenerate the area back to its original state and decided to patch it up with a scar.
Scars don’t have the original cells that function in the area. For example, skin scars won’t sweat or tan. This also means the nerves that originally connected to the area are not properly wired. Free nerve endings could cause sensations of pain.
Secondly, the fibers in scars will slowly over a matter of months to years pull together. This makes scars smaller with time but can be problematic for large scars such as those in burn victims. A large scar made of non-stretchy fiber could pull so tight that it reduces a person’s range of motion. This pulling over time can also trigger pain. A similar pulling of fibers occurs under scabs that tigger our sense of itchiness.
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