All About Wound Care As Well As Scars. What Are The Cold Sores? 

Get The Right Treatment For Wound Scars

From childhood injuries, from surgeries, from accidents, everybody has scars. Since we don’t live in a safe bubble, they are an inevitable part of life. Often to the point of near invisibility, the scars can be minimised which is that most people don’t realise.

Here are the two basic types of scars including hypertrophic following the line of injury as well as keloidal where the scarring then spreads to the surrounding tissue thereby forming large bumps and ridges. 

Caused by hyperproliferation of collagen are scars. For reasons that are not altogether clear, some people are more prone to scar formation. The truth is that no ethnicity is immune to keloids whereas people of African American and Caribbean ancestry tends to develop keloids more than other ethnic groups. Probably because the collagen there is thicker, to begin with, some areas of the body are more likely to develop keloids like the chest, the back, the shoulders, and the earlobes. 

Proper wound care is essential to decrease scarring. It has to be kept moist in case of any wound, large or small. As ointments keep moisture in the first aid kits at home should contain antibiotic ointment rather than a cream. Both inexpensive and effective at keeping wounds moist is another useful item to have around which is a big jar of Aquaphor Healing Ointment, a petroleum-based product. The process includes cleaning the wound, applying the ointment, and then bandage. It is effective for children’s scratches and grazes too. 

How Do You Treat Scars From Surgery? 

As soon as the sutures are out, surgical scars should be treated. Changing the temperature of the wound area, decreasing oxygen, and improving skin hydration is the silicone bandages that people facing elective surgery or who have scheduled c-sections should buy. The results are worth it even though silicone bandages must usually be used for at least a couple of months. To decrease collagen production, many doctors also use steroid pills or injections. With their doctor before having any procedure, people who know they are prone to keloid formation should absolutely discuss the possibility. 

Treatment is still possible once the scars have formed. Doing a good job of improving the appearance of scars is non-ablative lasers, such as the Medlite and Genesis lasers. Costing at least a few hundred dollars, it does take several treatments, though. Freezing the scar with liquid nitrogen some doctors use cryotherapy. It is not recommended for those with dark skin since it may affect the colour of the skin. Where the scar is cut out as deep scars may require surgery and the resulting scar come usually smaller and less noticeable. 

It may be worth asking you surgeon for a prescription before you have the procedure as Aldara cream also appears to discourage scarring after surgery. It won’t make the scars worse but it won’t make them better either so don’t waste your money on vitamin E oil as so many people apply to their scars but are useless. Since it carries with it the risk of skin cancer, finally radiation treatment should only be used as a last resort. Resulting in significantly less scarring is the meticulous wound care that comes as the bottom line. 

What Are The Cold Sores?

It’s no surprise that dermatologists see people with cold sores every week as a large proportion of people living in the United States have been exposed to the herpes simplex virus. Here we discuss what is the surprising myths surrounding cold sores. 

Cold stores are not canker sores first of all. Canker sores also known as aphthous ulcers, appear inside the mouth and are not contagious whereas cold sores are always on the lip. 

Either type I or type II cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus. Extremely contagious are cold sores. For whom a herpes infection can be life-threatening, especially cancer patients on chemotherapy or radiation therapy, people with cold sores should never share cups, lipsticks, or towels and refrain from kissing children as well as pregnant women and those who are immune-compromised. 

So contagious that they can easily spread to other parts of the body are cold sores. As towels can carry infection to the eyes and a herpes eye infection is quite serious and painful, stop using towels on their face when they have cold sores. Instead, you can use paper towels. 

Fairly easy to treat are herpes infections. The most effective treatment is prescription anti-viral pills such as acyclovir and valcyclovir whereas over-the-counter topical anti-virals like Abreva work relatively well. It is important to keep in mind, that run and don’t walk to your doctor if you have cold sores for the first time. It is possible to kill the virus and prevent future recurrences if the first outbreak is treated promptly with prescription anti-virals. 

It becomes a recurring problem once the herpes virus takes hold. Here are several factors triggering cold sores: 

Stress

Whether emotional or physical, stress from surgery or medical treatments. 

Ultraviolet light

Use lip balms with sunscreen for anybody with cold sores. Throw away the lip balm and get a new one after a cold sore episode, whereas there is a possibility of re-infecting yourself. 

Colds and flu

People tend to have outbreaks in winter and summer as extremes in temperature. 

It is suggested travelling with a supply of prescription anti-virals for people with recurring cold sores. The pills might be able to head off a full-blown episode when taking at the first sight of an outbreak usually a tingling or burning sensation on the upper lip. 

The Bottom Line Here 

Still controversial is taking lysine as a preventive. It does not appear to be as effective once the cold sore actually appears as the latest studies seem to show that taking lysine regularly may prevent or at least reduce outbreaks. People who have already experienced cold sores might consider taking lysine daily with that in mind. Check with your doctor first to see if lysine might conflict with any medications as the recommended dose for adults is 1000 mg daily. See a doctor immediately to get the right medication as the bottom line goes that herpes should be taken seriously.