Silicone Parts are Made for Toys

Okay, I have to admit that I like silicone. Silicone has a nice feel to it, a nice jelly-like bounce to it -- almost skin-like, really -- and it is durable and resistant to all sorts of abuse.

But can it really do wonders for scar healing? I've heard of silicone sheets and silicone gels which somehow promote the healing of flesh wounds and dramatically reduce the scarring imperfections. But there seem to be two very distinct and separate schools of thought: one who believe it to work (and don't really understand why), and the other who say it does absolutely nothing. Neosporin is obviously in the former category; my former dermatologist is clearly in the latter. I mean, normally, I wouldn't be this vain about it, but these are fairly visible areas on my arms and shoulders. I wouldn't want it to end up like my appendix scar.

So, in your experience, what are the best scar treatments around? Do these (pricey) silicone sheets and gels work? Or no?

3 comments:

Rose said...

"I like them real round and juicy.." is the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the title of your entry. I have no idea if silicone works... never even heard of it for healing scars. However, I find the best way to prevent scars is not to pick them when they are healing!

Ben said...

Too late. Though, in my defense, I'm a very selective and careful picker and never draw blood. I see it more as "helping it along".

Next suggestion / opinion?

Anonymous said...

I've always been one to let my scars heal and not apply over the counter stuff.

Though lately, on the radio, I've been hearing advertisements (<--why do people pronounce this word funny?) about ScarEase:

http://www.scarease.com/index.html

Is this the silicone gel/sheet you were talking about?

- aliasa