Skin scars easily; slow to heal. Ideas?

Hey, Colin scars easily too. Some kids just have more sensitive skin, particularly in the winter months. Vitamin E with aloe is always good, as well as lotion at bathtime. If there is no sign of infection, I personally wouldn't worry too much about it. It just may take longer for his epidermal layer to regenerate, which can occur in little kids. JMHO FWIW. Liz

My four year old daughters scars just like this!! She can get the smallest cut/ scratch and she will have a scar for quite some time (6 mo- 1 year) and sometimes a darker mark will stay even longer. I feel so bad when she gets one on her face.... I do the vitamin E oil too, not sure how much it helps (but I'm not going to take a chance of it scaring worse).

Moe, Kiran is the same. He still has a scar from a bug bite he received two summers ago! I was alarmed at the time of the bug bite scar and did some research. I also got feedback from members here. Apparently it is common for our hispanic/mayan beauties to scar easily and retain the scarring for some time. I have learned to treat immediately with neosporin and keep rubbing cocoa butter on the scar until it fades. Kiran will scar of the least little skin abrasion. If you learn some new tips than that keep me in mind and share, will ya? :)

I don't have advice for the healing, but you should try Elidel for Kids on the scars. I have used the adult version myself and it works like a charm.

I think my son has the same type of skin! :) You can still see where he had a rash while he was in Guatemala. :)

Angela, After reading your post, I looked for information on Elidel for kids. The first thing Google came up with was recent information warning against using Elidel on children due to a cancer risk identified by the FDA. Here's the text: Elidel and Protopic Warning The most recent warnings from the FDA are about Elidel and Protopic, two medicines used to treat children with eczema. The warning was added because of a potential cancer risk which was discovered in animal studies and because of a small number of reports of cancer in children and adults who were treated with Elidel and Protopic. When using these medicines, it is important to keep in mind this advice from the FDA: Elidel and Protopic are not approved for use in children younger than 2 years old and using it should be avoided in these younger children. Elidel and Protopic should be used only for short periods of time, not continuously. Elidel and Protopic are approved for short-term and intermittent treatment of atopic dermatitis (eczema) in patients unresponsive to, or intolerant of other treatments, like steroid creams and ointments. So they are second-line agents and you should try other treatments first. Children and adults with a weakened or compromised immune system should not use Elidel or Protopic. Use the minimum amount of Elidel and Protopic needed to control your child's symptoms. The animal data suggest that the risk of cancer increases with increased exposure to Elidel or Protopic. FYI, Marjorie

Yikes! Thanks for the info Marjorie. Had I known that I would have never recommeded it!

Marjorie- I'm glad to see that you found that information bout Elidel, I was about to say that Elidel is for eczema, not scarring, and should be used very cautiously in children. I would, however, recommend looking into Mederma also. Mederma is a topical ointment that is supposed to reduce scarring. I tend to develop keloid scars so I used it after my last surgery and it helped. I've also used Curad Scar Therapy, they are silicone patches that you put over the scar and I was really happy with how some of my scars turned out.

I scar really really easy! I get the lumpy scars too.The smallest scratch and it is there for ever. The biggest thing to do is to leave any scratch alone. I have tried everything, but my skin just does this. If you have any great answer let me know!

Neosporin is BAD. A lot of people get hypersensitivity reactions to it. It tends to prolong healing, cause rashes, and unsightly scarring. This is because it contains Neomycin. If I wanted a wound NOT to heal I would put Neomycin on it. I strongly recommend you put nothing on cuts, scratches, and scrapes. I know you heard me right. Nothing. Just wash it once very well with soap and water, then leave it alone. No alcohol, no hydrogen peroxide, no ointments nothing. Especially NO band-aids. Band-aids make the wound sweat because the plastic does not allow moisture to escape. Then it becomes a breeding ground for a bacteria called Pseudomonas. Leave wounds to open air, or if you can't for some reason then apply sterile gauze, and change it every time it gets exposed to moisture. Many people get hyperpigmentation from application of irritating substances to their skin. I suture hispanic faces all day long (it's my job), and I can tell you that the people who get the least scar and who heal the fastest are the ones who don't touch the wound and don't apply anything to it for two days. We wash the wound once with soap and water, and then we tell people to not even wash it for the next two days. After two days they can wash it once a day gently with sterile gauze and water, but we recommend not doing so unless it is dirty. If it is a skinned knee or something that has a strong tendency to form a juicy scab then you can apply a very fine layer of bacitracin. BUT NO NEOMYCIN. Cover up sun exposed areas that have recent wounds for the next 6 months. This will also help prevent hyperpigmentation. hope this helps P.S. Marjorie this does NOT apply to your child but for the other people who mentioned they get keloid formation (big lumpy scars) they should know that injection of steroids into the wound about two and a half weeks afterward will help prevent this. They should go see a dermatologist as soon as the wound is dry and healed.

I second the warning against Elidel and Neosporin. ([font=JansonText-Roman]the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently reviewed the safety of these agents, protopic and Elidel, and warned that they may be associated with a risk of cancer.)[/font][font=JansonText-Roman][/font]I do alot of research on skin problems as I have eczema and both of those are big No-No's. Also the band-Aid problem may be an allergic reaction to Latex, and people who have latex allergies are warned against using Neosporin specifically (though I'm not sure why on that one). Try Non-Latex bandages without any "stuff" - You just need to protect the scratches from infection and let them heal themselves. Good luck.

Melissa, I was wondering about the latex allergy. Glad you said it. Thanks for the advice. Marjorie

No problem, My skin does the exact same thing. On a side note, if he does in fact have an allergy to latex, There are some other things to avoid beyond the usual Rubbery latex things (bottle nipples, baid-aids, rubber gloves) High cross-reactivity ՗ bananas, avocados, chestnuts; Moderate reactivity ՗ apples, carrots, celery, papaya, kiwi, potatoes, tomatoes and melon; Low or undetermined reactivity ՗ pears, peaches, cherries, pineapple, strawberries, figs, grapes, apricots, passion fruit, rye, wheat, grass, ragweed, mugwort, hazelnuts, walnuts, soybeans and peanuts. I get sick to my stomach when I eat Avocados and bananas!For the full article - [url="http://www.pacpubserver.com/new/health/a-b/hm050799.html"]http://www.pacpubserver.com/new/health/a-b/hm050799.html[/url]Melissa

I bought dermalmd scar serum after using the regular dermalmd during the day on my sons scar. Once I started using this serum I saw dramatic results. My sons scar is from a new cut he got in Juy (2 months ago) and this overnight serum worked so much faster than the one during the day. I can barely see anything now. I highly recommend dermalmd!