If you’ve suffered a burn, it’s essential to properly care for your burn wound, to minimise scarring and promote the healing of this tender skin.

Burn scars are vast and varied, because burns themselves can range from fairly mild to severe. You may be familiar with the different degrees of burns, but do you know the effect these have on the scars they leave behind?

Different types of burn scars

First degree burns may heal on their own, without causing a scar to form. They should heal within about a week. Second degree burns should heal within two weeks, and may leave behind a scar. Third degree burns are very likely to cause scarring, and they can take months or years to heal properly.

While burn scars have different degrees of severity, there are also different types of scars that occur from burning yourself:

• Hypertrophic scars: these are red or purple, and raised. They may feel warm to the touch and itchy.
• Contracture scars: these tighten the skin, muscles, and tendons, and make it harder for you to move.
• Keloid scars: these form shiny, hairless bumps.

Complications from burns

Minor burns shouldn’t cause any lasting issues, however, more severe burns can cause other health complications, such as infections, dehydration, low body temperature and tissue damage.

If you’ve suffered a severe, painful burn, you should consult your emergency department or doctor. It’s important to keep seeing the doctor regularly, too, to monitor your burn as it heals and make sure nothing untoward is happening.

How to prevent burns scars

Acting quickly and wisely when you suffer a second degree burn can help to protect your skin from long-term damage. If you burn your skin, you should: 

• Rinse the burn with cool water and let it air dry
• Apply Control Topical Solution™ to the burn to help prevent infection
• Cover the burn with a nonstick bandage and hold it in place with gauze

Treating burn scars

Protecting the burn from sun exposure 

Your burn area will be really sensitive for several months, or longer. To avoid further damage to the scar, where it may get more painful and pigmented, you should protect the area from UVA and B exposure. Simply apply sunscreen or cover the area with clothing until it is fully healed.

Dealing with scar blistering

If your burn has blistered, wait for it to pop by itself. Whatever you do, don’t take a needle to it. The last thing you want to do is pop a blister before it’s ready, as it will be shielding delicate skin from further damage. Once the blister has popped, you can cut away the dead skin, or seek help from a doctor to remove the skin.

Stretch the skin to prevent a contracture 

A contracture occurs when the burn scar becomes rigid, causing the skin to thicken and tighten, which can be painful and prevent movement. This is considered a serious burn complication. To prevent this from happening, you should gently stretch the burn in different directions every day to encourage movement of the scar.

Topical burn treatments

When treating burns scars, topical creams can be really helpful in minimising inflammation and restoring moisture and nutrients to vulnerable skin.

We recommend using our Conceal Ultimate Scar Cream™ to treat scars. This formula is unlike other scar treatments, as it contains Chlorhexidine Digluconate which is an antiseptic, used to sterilise medical equipment and skin before surgery. This incredible ingredient means you can safely use this topical cream on second and third degree burns early on in the scar formation process. Conceal Ultimate Scar Cream™ will help minimise the appearance of your burns while also fighting infection.

If your burn is painful and you’d like to use a topical treatment to support pain relief, try applying our Control Topical Solution™ before the scar cream. This solution is designed to support wound healing, but also relieve any scar-related pain. 

While these revolutionary products are designed for use early in the scar healing process, you shouldn’t use these treatments on open wounds.

We’ve created an ultimate scar healing package to supercharge your recovery. Our Wound and Scar Treatment Therapy™ package combines both the Control Topical Solution™ and Conceal Ultimate Scar Cream™ detailed above. Both formulas use industry-leading botanical solutions to skin healing. While each product works effectively alone, the formulas are designed to complement one another, thus combining to create a package that protects and diminishes your scar at every stage of its healing journey. Shop our Wound and Scar Treatment Therapy™ here.