Many of you, as I, were raised to believe that cuts and scrapes heal better when you let the air at them. Well, your mom was right about a lot of things, but not this one.
When you cut yourself, the skin heals because healthy cells migrate out from the hair follicles and in from the edges of the wound to cover the entire surface of the injured area. When a cut dries out, a crusted scab forms. Scabs are dried collections of dead cells, blood clot, and white blood cells. This crusted debris actually hinders healing because it gets in the way of the skin cells migrating to cover the wound. Allowing a scab to form, then, actually slows healing and can worsen the scar.
The best treatment for a cut is to keep the wound clean and moist at all times. This can be done by washing gently once a day with soap and water or with a solution of 1/2 hydrogen peroxide, 1/2 water. Then apply a greasy ointment such as Vaseline or Aquaphor to seal moisture in and cover the wound with a band-aid. Antibiotic ointments can also be used, but they probaby cause more harm than good.
Keeping a cut or wound covered and moist and preventing a scab from forming will allow healthy cells to migrate in easily, thus allowing the wound to heal more quickly and minimizing the scar formed.
Post written by Jeffrey Benabio, MD. You might also like these other skincare myths:
Photo credit: Belinda Hankins Miller