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Scars are the body’s natural method of reuniting skin back together. There are different types of scars but the most typical is the atrophic scars, a flat wide scar.They leave visible marks because the tissue that grows back together does not have some specialized skin cells, particularly pigment cells. This is why scars eventually turn white or lighter than the surrounding skin in most cases when they are fully healed and mature, regardless of race or ethnicity. This white scar extends all the way through the thickness of the skin. This is why no topical cream, microdermabrasion or even laser treatments can remove full-thickness skin scars. You can’t make the scar create color as it is missing the cells to do so and removing the outer layer of the scar only exposes continuing white scar the deeper you go. Only cutting out such a scar can bring the normal pigmented skin next to it together for a more narrow scar.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana

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