Hypertrophic and Keloid scars - How to improve them

Have you had a scar that had started to rise above your skin? Where skin beneath the scar seems to produce so much collagen that it started to bloat? I never know the difference between hypertrophic and keloid scars, because they look so similar, however, these are indeed different types of scars.

The difference between hypertrophic and keloid scars

Though they have similarities, hypertrophic and keloids are different. A hypertrophic scar is where the scar rises because the skin produces excessive amounts of collagen but they do not rise as much as keloid scars. Hypertrophic scars are usually caused by body piercings, burns, cuts, and pimples.

On the other hand, keloid scars occur right after an injury heals. Though keloid scars are not going to occur in all injuries, the growth of the scarred tissue can be larger than the injury area.

There are some similarities, for example, both scars become raised because of too much collagen. However, hypertrophic is a scar that only grows inside the area of the injured skin while a keloid scar grows bigger than the original wound.

How do they look like

A hypertrophic scar looks like a thick, raised, and red scar. This is because of the tension that’s surrounding the wound. This is caused by the imbalanced collagen in the injury. A hypertrophic scar will reduce in size as it heals.

A keloid scar is usually larger than hypertrophic and occurs after the healing process has finished. Keloid scars are more difficult to treat because they grow larger with time.

How to improve these scars

The best way to prevent a hypertrophic scar from occurring is to put a pressure dressing on the wound as this will stop the excess collagen from growing in the area. If a hypertrophic scar has already occurred, then there are options to treat this kind of scar using injections and surgery.

To improve the look of keloid scars you can use pressure dressing, injections, or surgery. One of the newest treatments is called “Cryosurgery” where the keloid is being ‘frozen away’ using liquid nitrogen.

Both hypertrophic and keloid scars are quite visible, but they are treatable. Nowadays there are a lot of treatment options to choose from.

However, if you don’t feel ready to try out any of the medical scar removal treatments, you can use some of the ways to cover up your scars. You could try using clothing, bracelets, or camouflage make-up to hide your scars.

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