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Scarring in Kids
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Do young children scar?
Jan 2000
My daughter is 16 months old. Last week she took a very bad fall.
She is fine, but she scraped her face badly. We carefully washed the
area regularly, and put on antibiotic ointment. The area seems to
be healing normally. But the scabs have now fallen off, and the skin
underneath still looks pink, shiny, and not like the rest of her skin.
I am very worried that she will scar. My husband says that children
that age don't scar. A friend says her now 4-year-old still has a
scar from this sort of thing that happened three years ago. While
I am extremely grateful that she is fine, I feel terribly responsible
for the fact that she may now have scars on her face forever.
Did your children scar at this age?
Karen
Yes, they can scar. If you are concerned about the appearance, try
applying vitamin E oil to the scar area. My friend's daughter had
surgery as an infant, and her scar has been greatly helped by the
daily application of vitamin E oil.
My daughter had a very bad fall off the monkey bars six months which
left a giant bruise and scrape on her chin. Now there's only a small
mark that I don't think anyone would notice if they weren't looking
for it. That said, I think it's a good idea to call the pediatrician
for more information; and if a fall is bad enough for you to feel
worried, it's worth going in for an appointment, just to get it
checked out.
My daughter took a perfect crescent-shaped fingernail gouge to her
right cheekbone in daycare at about 12 months. 11 years later she has
a perfect crescent shaped scar on her right cheekbone -- bigger, but
faded and mostly noticeable to her mother -- who still feels guilty
(if not personally responsible). You should ask your doctor about a
facial scrape, because you don't want to find out later that you could
have done something, and didn't.
Children do scar. I have a small scar that I got when I was just a few
months old from gashing my chin on a corner table. My kids both have
minor scars here and there and both have chicken pox scars. I've been
told that rubbing vitamin E on healing wounds, cuts, scrapes etc. help
the healing and scarring process. It's certainly worth a try (if she
doesn't rub it off). You can also lightly massage around the area to
bring more circulation to it, which would also minimize scarring.
I don't know about 16 mo old, but my sister fell off her bike and
literally plowed the street (still full of sand from winter) with her
face when she was 8 or 10. It was a horrendous sight, but it healed
fine and she has no residual scars. The only thing we did was to
squeeze vitamin E (out of the gel capsules) on it regularly, as that
is supposed to promote healing.
When he was 2 1/2, my son fell down our front steps and scraped the
top of his nose terribly. The scab healed within a few weeks, but he
also had red, shiny skin there for several months. It took a long
time, but the area did eventually heal completely. Now, at 5 1/2,
there's no sign whatsoever of the accident. This was a few years ago,
but I seem to recall that his pediatrician recommended that we rub
vitamin E into the area as it healed. You should check with your
daughter's pediatrician about the best way to minimize scarring. Best
of luck!
My daughter was 13 months old and fell on concrete and scraped her
left eye area pretty badly. All I did was keep it clean but like your
daughter, after the scab fell off, the skin underneath was pink; but
one month later you couldn't tell she had fallen. I'm sure your
daughter's skin will return to its normal texture/color in no time.
I wouldn't worry too much. My 2 year old son has had numerous scrapes
on his face and knees. After the scab falls off they do stay red and
shiny for quite a long time, but eventually they have all faded away
completely (sometimes the redness lasts for 2-3 months) You did the
right thing and if you didn't need stitches I wouldn't give it another
thought. The doctor has told me that if the wound is big or if you've
had stitches - it's important to keep it out of the sun until it is
completely healed. That may mean applying total sun block to the red
skin area for awhile.
My son got scratched on his face when he was 2 and still has a faint
scar (at almost 5). I felt terrible, because it was very noticeable
for over a year. It didn't occur to me that he might scar, since the
scratch wasn't deep, but then he picked the scab off! Afterwards, I
found out some things that would have helped. Vitamin E oil helps heal
scars (I think you're supposed to put it on after the scab comes off,
for about 3 months?), also it is very important to put sunblock on the
area around the scar until it heals completely, to minimize
discoloration. Good luck. I think the tendency to scar is hereditary,
so your child may be luckier than mine!
As a 2 and a half year old, I fell off of my tricycle when my older
sister jumped off of the back. I slid on my face while going down
hill. I still vividly remember this and I had serious abrasions on my
face. My mother was also worried that I would scar. She was advised
to put Coco Butter on my the abrasions. She did and I developed no
scar. I don't know if I just wasn't going to scar as a two and a half
year old or if the Cocoa Butter helped, but it can't hurt. Good luck.
I have suggested to two clients the following for post-operation care of
(abdominal) scars and general healing. Some of this may help your child. I modified the recommended levels to 1/3 the adult amount.
Eat a high protein diet including whole grains*, sprouts, and a protein drink each morning (whey powder, green algae of some sort, flax seeds, a fruit, pumpkin seeds (for zinc) whirled in a blender- one example).
For one month-
Vitamin C- 750-1000 mg, in divided doses of 250 mg each, for wound healing and immune function
Vitamin E- 200 IU for wound healing and immune function (with a meal). Use mixed tocopherols.
50 mg zinc picolinate (with a meal). Zinc helps prevent stretch marks, by the way.
400 mg magnesium (with a meal). Reduce if stools become loose.
A & D oil capsules- 10,000 IU internally daily (mycelized liquid A works really well; take with meal)
Lactobacillus Acidophilus (children's Rhinodophilus is chewable; take after meal)
*I forget the age of your child, but the Townsend Letter for Doctors and
Patients suggests children be introduced to grains cautiously (and in small spoonful amounts):
@9 months- millet, oatmeal
@12 months, barley
@18 months, buckwhesat, rye
@21 months, wheat
Hope this helps. My own son had a major fall on his bike at 4, with scraps and cuts to his face. His skin is brown, more prone to keloids, but I couldn't see any trace of the accident 4 months later. Sometimes the scars on places exposed to the sun will heal differently.
Protection with sunscreen and/or clothing can reduce the distortion of skin color and texture.
One more note on kids and scars. My son had a serious facial injury when he was little which he has almost no scar from. The plastic surgeon
recommended putting sun block on the area everyday for a year because the
scar tissue pigments differently. Sometimes it's the pigmentation that is
more visable than the scar.
Yes, children that age do scar as I still have a very noticeable scar on
my face from an accident when I was about 2 years old (and I'm over
40). My mother at the time put vitamin E oil (from a vitamin E capsule)
on the scar daily and says that this much reduced the thickness,
hardness, and bright red/ purple color of the scar. She put the vitamin
E oil on for a couple of years. It is known to reduce scar tissue. Good
luck.
The answer is yes, if you let them go out in the sun. I also didn't
realise this and my daughter has a scar patch on her nose because we
were having a beach holiday at the time she scraped it (in the most
minor way). Other cuts and scrapes that were not exposed to the sun
haven't scarred the same way. The mark is still not that bad - now
she's twelve it's barely visible. During winter you shouldn't have so
much trouble with sunlight - just make sure she wears sun protection
for at least a couple of weeks by which time the new skin will be
better able to protect itself.
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