Scarring

[mcboxer]

I've been chatting with friends and we don't know the correct answer. I thought you guys might be able to help.

When my friend's staffy had surgery someone told her to apply vitamin E oil to the skin to reduce visible scarring. She did this to no avail.

We've been wondering if it was just an old Wives tale ? or was the information incorrect?

She thought maybe she should have used Vitamin E cream, ( I thought oil sounded more appropriate), and then someone else said it was Apricot Kernal Oil that should have been used. I thought that was for human stretchmarks

Anyone ever found from experience, anything that worked?

it's too late now for the little staffy, but we all want to know , just because it's bugging us?

[WhiteLight]

I think I read somewhere in one of those woman's magazine that it is in fact a myth. Thre is a special plaster you can buy to place on wounds from the chemist that is supposed to help with scarring however you could not put it on a furry dog.

[Guest Shadowboxer]

My old vet always used the mashed up leaves of Comfrey as a poultice for cuts on the legs of show horses. They would heal with minimal scarring. Comfrey can be toxic so it would not be advisable to to use it on an area of a dog that it can lick.

[InspectorRex]

Calendula creasm works wonders on scars and it will not harm the dog if it licks it.

My girl was bitten by a bee 2wks before specialty show and left scar on stop. put calendula cream on three times a day for about 10 days and no scar and hair grew back. we always keep a jar of it on hand .

about $12 from health foods shop- get the cream Not the ointment

[Scales of Justice]

mcboxer

I had a dog which got bitten by a white tipped spider. All the skin around came up in a raised lump and within a few weeks the patch (about the size of a drink coaster) had turned the skin pitch black. I thought she was going to get gangrene and need amputation. I was told by the vet to use paw paw cream on the wound and months went by and nothing seemed to take the problem away.

So I cut fresh aloe vera from the aloe vera plant and tape a poultice of the fresh aloe vera plant (cut open to expose the inner part of the plant) and taped a new piece every day on the wound.

Within a short space of time the wound looked much better and within 3 months the skin had normalised and the hair had started to grow. Within 6 months you couldn't see where the problem had been.

Aloe vera - Great

[keels]

I don't know about dogs skin, but Bio-oil works fantastic on scars on human skin, worth a try, my OH used it on a scar on his forehead and it worked wonders!

You can get it from chemists

[polarpeak]

Colloidal Silver (Sp) available from Health Foods stores works a treat on small cuts, bites etc. I have never tried it on large surgery scars but I use it EVERY time my dogs get an injury. It works like an antiseptic and heals at the same time.

[holly]

Luckily, I have never had a dog with a scar, apart from desexing/C sections, but with our horses, I used Aloe Vera a lot. It wiped out a malenoma on a grey mare and another T.B that had been pushed through a wire fence, he had a gaping gash on his hind hock, it was hidieous, right down the synovial fluid and bone joint, but over some weeks of hosing clean twice daily, smearing Aloe Vera on the wound and blue stone for the proud flesh, all that was left wasa very fine scare. Horsey friends that had seen him after the accidnet coulnt' believe how fine the line was, so I swear by Aloe Vera these days, it is truly one of natures miracles drugs

[Tilly]

I use Aloe Vera (fresh from the pot plant) and pawpaw ointment. Both are excellent.

[Steve]

Nothing equals Aloe Vera this isnt a myth and has been proven The Russians have done some great reserach on this IT also cuts down onhealing time Calendular is good but doesnt go anywhere near the Aloe. There are a couple of different types of Vitamin E but Ive never known any of them to be much chop.

[mersonmalinois]

Another vote for Aloe Vera.

[PAX]

My human daughter had a very bad scar on her knee, she removed all skin form her kneecap and the hospital suggested Vit E cream to reduce scarring after it heeled.

[Divine Angel]

MASSAGE! Massage the scar (it will hurt a bit though). This breaks up the long fibres. Twist, turn and rub the scar. Takes about a week to notice a difference if you do it every day.

Edited December 15, 2004 by Divine Angel

[caffiend42]

OH had his wrist operated on in August - occupational therapist recommended massaging the scar as often as possible as DA has said. Also had a strip of pure silicon plastic to put on at night which is said to reduce scarring - though occasionally it would also cause a little bit of rash where the silicon stuck to the skin.

Might give the aloe vera a go...

[Lochtay]

Problem with Vit E cream or oil is that it heals slowly at only 1% per day so you must massage it in each day for 100 days for the real effect to be noticed. People tend to want miracles and stop after only a week or 2.

Kerry

[iceni]

cant beat vitamin c and zinc for collagen synthesis and wound repair, good old lanolin is good for scars too