I recently found online various sources that say silicone sheets are effective at flattening out raised/hypertrophic scars. So I decided to purchase a box of ScarAway at my local CVS for about $20 to give it a try. Now silicone is clinically proven to reduce scar marks and this is what is prescribed to patients who suffer large scars from accidents (not from acne). But the major downside is it takes a very long time for results to be realized (I've read it can take up to several months) and you must use the product religiously (12 hours a day is the recommendation). I've been using it while I sleep, but that's a bit short of 12 hours.
I was wondering if anyone has used this method to treat raised scars from acne, and if so what type of results did you have?
It's funny how just last week my mother was using this product for her knee cap scars! Must be the advertising? Well, I don't know how much this helps, but I can tell you what happened with us:
She and I BOTH have acne scars, but we were too nervous to put these things on our faces, but the thoughts did occur! If you have acne on your chest or back then you might want to give it a try, but please beware of this products quality.... these sheets are THIN. And I mean REALLY thin. I was helping her peal the packaging off when I nearly crumbled the darn thing up! At first I thought it was part of the wrapper, but no, that was it. It's almost the same as a bandied but not quite.
When I finally got one on her knee cap, it wasn't sticking too well (she had knee surgery obviously). I understand that I had to curve it around a bony area, but after 15 minutes it kept rising up. So we tired a somewhat old scar on her arm instead. The first one didn't work since I guess we messed around with to too much, so we opened a fresh one. It stuck a little better so she slept with it, but when we went to look at it the next day, a corner of it peeled up so we decided to get rid of the entire thing...it tore a great deal of my mother's arm hair off and a little skin, making the area quite irritated and uncomfortable. We could smell the medicine but there definitely was not enough of it and practically vanished.
Overall, their product is a little inconsistent and you just barely get any treatment on these things. This is, however, just my eye ball opinion from helping my mother out, who after a few days forgot about the ordeal. At this point she's referred to a gel which, in my opinion, is slightly better. If you cant wait for it to dry on it's own, wrap it up with some cloth and let the moisture stay inside.
However, for acne, I wouldn't recommend it. You facial skin needs to air out and not be sealed otherwise it could possibly trap more oils and dirt inside, even after washing. I think keeping your facial skin wide open to fresh air secretly helps out a little bit, but I nor anyone else has no proof in this. You might be better of with a silicone gel or something if there's one out there, but that's only if you want to use that ingredient. I don't know if the silicone in these strips help acne scars either since silicone is suppose to "rise the skin to the top then discolor it so it's not so prominent". Give it a go on you chest or back maybe and yes, if you WANT to, wait about 3 months. Good luck keeping it on your body in those areas though. On average for my family, a normal scar takes 3 to 6 months before showing obvious improvement, but facial and acne scars are much too tricky. (please beware that I couldn't find what the ingredients were in these products and I doubt it's just the silicone alone). I'm sorry I couldn't give a strait answer or solution, but I hope I helped in warning you about the stickiness that these strips are suppose to have.
Can I start off by saying, I LOVE SCARAWAY!
To get the safety concerns out of the way, it is a medical grade silicone sheet, FDA approved, doctor recommended, safe! I have two hypertrophic scars right in the middle of my face ~ one on the center of my nose, one on the side of my nose. They are SIX years old. They have made me apprehensive about socializing, I've just had them for so long and extremely self conscious... "Kind of visible", not totally flat but still there, and more apparent from different angles kind of scar...the worst kind...I went to my derm a few years ago, she didn't even know what to do with them, said she couldn't inject them because they were too flat (they almost blend in with my skin)....these scars were from very severe cystic bumps I had in my teenage years...really deep and left a scar (maybe about .75 of an inch wide) all this time..
So I've been using Scaraway since November....let me tell you, if your hypertrophic scar is not as complicated as mine, then I am almost completely sure it will only take a few months for it to go away....but since I've had mine for six years.....It has only been 2 months since I've been using the sheets, and my scars have been reduced considerably....I will continue to use it until my scars are completely flat...yes that is the downside with this product, you have to be diligent, wear it every day...I even purchased another box, cause I don't care how long it takes......But what I've been noticing lately is that I can finally see my pores coming through on the surface of the hypertrophic area which means they are flattening.
Some things I learned with it~~
Cut up your sheets. If the area you're covering is not huge like the sheets they give you, cut it in half, cut it in quarters (I cut it in 4), this makes the most use out of the full supply of bandages they give you and perfect for the face.
ADHESIVES! These sheets don't stay on great, especially on oily skin. I learned that from the first couple of weeks, what I've been doing is using a little eyelash Duo glue (a little tube of glue intended for false eyelashes), a little dot on each corner of the sheet, and it lasts 12 hours!
If you're using it on your face, it will potentially trap dirt under the bandage. Especially since I have my sheet on my nose, I've been noticing a few clogged pores, but since I have the Clarisonic, I haven't got any pimples in that area...you have to be sure to clean and exfoliate the area very well.......
Other than that....it is a very decent product for the money..I've purchased 2 so far...will continue using it for as long as it takes because of the price and I'm very patient...I am really glad I came across these products, because normally to remove these scars it would've taken hundreds maybe thousands of dollars to get the surgery to laser them off.
Can I start off by saying, I LOVE SCARAWAY! To get the safety concerns out of the way, it is a medical grade silicone sheet, FDA approved, doctor recommended, safe! I have two hypertrophic scars right in the middle of my face ~ one on the center of my nose, one on the side of my nose. They are SIX years old. They have made me apprehensive about socializing, I've just had them for so long and extremely self conscious... "Kind of visible", not totally flat but still there, and more apparent from different angles kind of scar...the worst kind...I went to my derm a few years ago, she didn't even know what to do with them, said she couldn't inject them because they were too flat (they almost blend in with my skin)....these scars were from very severe cystic bumps I had in my teenage years...really deep and left a scar (maybe about .75 of an inch wide) all this time.. So I've been using Scaraway since November....let me tell you, if your hypertrophic scar is not as complicated as mine, then I am almost completely sure it will only take a few months for it to go away....but since I've had mine for six years.....It has only been 2 months since I've been using the sheets, and my scars have been reduced considerably....I will continue to use it until my scars are completely flat...yes that is the downside with this product, you have to be diligent, wear it every day...I even purchased another box, cause I don't care how long it takes......But what I've been noticing lately is that I can finally see my pores coming through on the surface of the hypertrophic area which means they are flattening. Some things I learned with it~~ Cut up your sheets. If the area you're covering is not huge like the sheets they give you, cut it in half, cut it in quarters (I cut it in 4), this makes the most use out of the full supply of bandages they give you and perfect for the face. ADHESIVES! These sheets don't stay on great, especially on oily skin. I learned that from the first couple of weeks, what I've been doing is using a little eyelash Duo glue (a little tube of glue intended for false eyelashes), a little dot on each corner of the sheet, and it lasts 12 hours! If you're using it on your face, it will potentially trap dirt under the bandage. Especially since I have my sheet on my nose, I've been noticing a few clogged pores, but since I have the Clarisonic, I haven't got any pimples in that area...you have to be sure to clean and exfoliate the area very well....... Other than that....it is a very decent product for the money..I've purchased 2 so far...will continue using it for as long as it takes because of the price and I'm very patient...I am really glad I came across these products, because normally to remove these scars it would've taken hundreds maybe thousands of dollars to get the surgery to laser them off.
brilliant. how often do you apply the sheets?
brilliant. how often do you apply the sheets?
every night, they say you should do it for 12+ hours at least, which is why adhesives are so important.....if you skip days inbetween, you're just prolonging the time you have to wear these things on your face which is not fun...
i have being using it for 7 months,and i use it just when i sleep.the truth is that it works for my raised scars,but the progress is slow.
exactly....but for us who can't afford expensive dermatological procedures, it's a convenient solution...
Can I start off by saying, I LOVE SCARAWAY!
To get the safety concerns out of the way, it is a medical grade silicone sheet, FDA approved, doctor recommended, safe! I have two hypertrophic scars right in the middle of my face ~ one on the center of my nose, one on the side of my nose. They are SIX years old. They have made me apprehensive about socializing, I've just had them for so long and extremely self conscious... "Kind of visible", not totally flat but still there, and more apparent from different angles kind of scar...the worst kind...I went to my derm a few years ago, she didn't even know what to do with them, said she couldn't inject them because they were too flat (they almost blend in with my skin)....these scars were from very severe cystic bumps I had in my teenage years...really deep and left a scar (maybe about .75 of an inch wide) all this time..
So I've been using Scaraway since November....let me tell you, if your hypertrophic scar is not as complicated as mine, then I am almost completely sure it will only take a few months for it to go away....but since I've had mine for six years.....It has only been 2 months since I've been using the sheets, and my scars have been reduced considerably....I will continue to use it until my scars are completely flat...yes that is the downside with this product, you have to be diligent, wear it every day...I even purchased another box, cause I don't care how long it takes......But what I've been noticing lately is that I can finally see my pores coming through on the surface of the hypertrophic area which means they are flattening.
Some things I learned with it~~
Cut up your sheets. If the area you're covering is not huge like the sheets they give you, cut it in half, cut it in quarters (I cut it in 4), this makes the most use out of the full supply of bandages they give you and perfect for the face.
ADHESIVES! These sheets don't stay on great, especially on oily skin. I learned that from the first couple of weeks, what I've been doing is using a little eyelash Duo glue (a little tube of glue intended for false eyelashes), a little dot on each corner of the sheet, and it lasts 12 hours!
If you're using it on your face, it will potentially trap dirt under the bandage. Especially since I have my sheet on my nose, I've been noticing a few clogged pores, but since I have the Clarisonic, I haven't got any pimples in that area...you have to be sure to clean and exfoliate the area very well.......
Other than that....it is a very decent product for the money..I've purchased 2 so far...will continue using it for as long as it takes because of the price and I'm very patient...I am really glad I came across these products, because normally to remove these scars it would've taken hundreds maybe thousands of dollars to get the surgery to laser them off.
Hi, I just got these and it says in the directions to replace every 7 days.............have you been doing that?
That could get costly; I always thought silicone didn't have to be replaced; as long as you could stick it on..................
Please let me know,
Thanks!
