Scars and stretch marks are the body’s natural healing response after an injury occurs and is permanent.  Various factors will influence how your skin will scar.

The location, depth and size of the original injury will impact on the scars characteristics, and age, heredity, gender and ethnicity will also affect how your skin will react. Stretch marks occur when the skin is stretched and tears occur in the deeper layers of skin.

Its important to remember that scars and stretch marks are permanent and will always be there, but we can improve their appearance so they are less noticeable. As there are several different types of scar tissue, a variety of treatments are used to improve their size, colour and texture with varying degrees of overall improvement according to the type of scar.

Types of Scar Tissue

Acne scars range from ice pick, to box car, rolling (that appear wavelike in appearance) and pseudo scars. Treatment outcomes depend on the extent of the original scarring and will differ according to the type of scarring.

• Atrophic scars are depressions in the skin and appear as a valley or pit. Commonly seen from acne and chicken pox.

• Contracture scars are often the result of burns and cause a tightening of skin that can impair the ability to move.

• Hypo-Pigmented scars appear lighter than the surrounding skin due to the lack of pigment.

• Hypertrophic scars are thickened and appear raised and red. They’re similar to keloid scars, but do not extend beyond the initial site of injury and often subside by themselves.

• Keloid scars are due to an overly aggressive healing process and appear pink to red in colour, are raised, shiny and dome shaped. They usually migrate from the original injury site and mainly occur in darker skin types.

• Pseudo scars appear purple or red in colour and are not actually scars but the initial injury still in the healing process.

• Stretch marks are a form of scarring, which occur when the skin is stretched, creating tears in the deeper layers of skin.