Contracture scars are the types of scars that occur when someone’s skin has been burned. The skin tightens around the burn and there is a danger of these scars doing deep tissue damage that affects the nerves and muscles. The more the skin pulls around the wound, the more it restricts the movement of the surrounding area. These scars should be treated as early as possible to avoid extensive tissue damage. Severe contracture scars are very painful and can be very graphic. To be honest, an extreme case would be far too graphic to show on the website even.
The key to treating contracture scars is keeping the skin loose. There are treatments that you can buy at your local pharmacy to assist in keeping the skin loose and to help the scar tissue mature. Silicone gel treatments are often the best in this situation. Your skin is basically having an abnormal response to the healing of the wound. This can cause the skin to become tighter and tighter causing more damage in the wound.
Besides pharmacy treatments, you can also prevent contracture scars with some simple procedures. One thing you can do is exercises to promote your range of motion. This will help keep the muscles and the joints flexible to prevent further damage. Exercising, in general, will help you with preventing contractures. It keeps the scarred area stretched and doesn’t give it a chance to get worse.
It’s best to be diligent when treating these types of scars because they can do some real damage. When there is abnormal shortening of muscle tissue, it causes the muscles to resist stretching. This makes you susceptible to further injury and even causes you to become disabled permanently.
