When people experience external injuries, they commonly have scarring afterwards as part of the healing process. In each case, a number of factors determine the characteristics of the scar that forms, including the severity and type of the injury and its location on the body. Patients' injuries optimally become flat, skin-colored scars that disappear with time.
Unfortunately, this isn't what happens for many patients, who receive raised red scars that are unsightly as well as painful. These scars are classified as keloid and hypertrophic types. Keloid scars result from excess buildup of collagen at the site of the injury and can become significantly larger than the wound that caused them to form. Hypertrophic scarring also results in a raised red area but does not grow larger than the injured area, because it lacks the excess collagen that characterizes keloid scarring.
Recent advancements in scar reduction technology have made an effective new treatment available for patients who want to reduce their new or old keloid and hypertrophic scars. This new product, known as Cica-Care, consists of an adhesive gel sheet covered with a novel form of silicone. Medical tests have found this new technology to reduce unsightly scars by flattening, fading and softening them in up to 90 percent of cases tested.
How Does Cica Care Work?
Cica Care attacks scars from a number of angles. First, the sheet completely covers the scarred area and thoroughly moisturizes it, which starts the healing process by flattening the scar. Over time, the scar's texture and color are both reduced as well. Cica-care's efficacy was first established after an Australian children's hospital made an important discovery: Certain areas underneath pressure garments, where silicone gel had been applied, showed rapid improvement in scar reduction. This resulted in a series of clinical trials performed in the UK which found that the silicone gel worked just as well on scars when it was used as a standalone treatment.Does Cica Care Work for Flat White Scars?
Cica Care is designed for scar removal in cases where patients are suffering from uncomfortable raised red scars. Flat white scars do not require the advanced treatment provided by this product.
How Long Does Cica-Care Take to Work?
This varies depending on individual characteristics, such as scar size and severity, but many scars begin to improve after only a few days of treatment. For complete scar removal, however, patients should use Cica-Care for two to four months of daily treatment.
In the first two days of treatment, patients should only use Cica-Care for four hours, but patients can increase their daily treatment time to eight hours for the two days after this. Patients should then increase their treatment time by two hours each day until they are wearing their gel sheet for at least twelve hours in each 24 hour period. For maximum results, patients should try to eventually wear their treatment pads for 24 hours every day. By slowly building up to these longer periods of wear, patients can stay comfortable throughout scar removal treatment.
Patients should continue using Cica-Care daily for about two to four months. Once improvements are no longer occurring, patients should stop wearing the gel sheets so that healing can finish naturally.
With Cica Care, patients can reduce their scars for only cents a day. Although Cica-Care can be used effectively on old and new hypertrophic and keloid scars, resulting from either surgery or accidental injuries, patients should never apply these gel sheets to injuries that are open, infected, scabbed over or stitched closed.
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Management of keloids and hypertrophic scars
