How to Heal Cuts, Scrapes and Wounds Fast—and Prevent Scars
Looking to quickly heal a cut or scrape and prevent scarring? The answer lies in both the depth of the injury and how well you care for it. Whether it’s a kitchen knife nick, a scraped knee or a minor burn, treating your wound correctly can dramatically speed healing and reduce your chances of scarring.
Why Some Wounds Scar and Others Don’t
Scars form when the injury extends into the dermis or deeper. Superficial injuries to the epidermis can often heal without a trace, but deeper wounds always leave a mark. However, how noticeable that mark becomes depends largely on how you care for the wound during healing.
Step 1: Clean the wound properly
To prevent infection and promote fast healing, gently clean the wound with cool water and an antibacterial cleanser. My favorite: Hibiclens Antiseptic Skin Cleanser, used in hospitals and dermatology clinics to kill 99.9% of bacteria.
Step 2: Keep it moist and covered
Despite popular belief, wounds should not be left open to “air out.” Research shows that moist wound healing leads to faster recovery and less scarring. Apply an occlusive ointment and cover with a clean bandage.
What’s the Best Ointment for Healing Wounds?
Is Aquaphor good for cuts?
No. Aquaphor contains lanolin, a common allergen. Lanolin is sheep sebum which sheep make to condition their wool. This animal-derived product is widely used in skin care, but the rate of allergies to this product is rapidly increasing. A recent study1 of over a thousand children found 66% of those with eczema and 29% without eczema had a skin reaction to lanolin. Also of note, lanolin has never been shown to speed the healing of skin—so why use it? A 2013 J Drugs Dermatol study found 52% of wounds treated with Aquaphor showed redness, vs only 12% with plain petrolatum.
What about Neosporin?
DO NOT use over-the-counter antibiotic ointments such as Neosporin or Polysporin on wounds. These products contain neomycin and bacitracin—ingredients that are "top-10 sensitizers”— meaning they are among the most likely ingredients to cause an allergic reaction in the skin, according to the North American Contact Dermatitis Group. Rates of allergic reactions to these ingredients are reported as high as 34%. Moreover, they have become ineffective at preventing infections due to decades of widespread use. Studies show up to 95% of bacteria are resistant to them. So they don’t prevent infection and expose you to common allergens—just throw them away!
We know when the skin is injured it is a less effective barrier, allowing more of whatever you are putting on it to be absorbed, thereby increasing the risk of irritation or allergy. For raw skin, steer clear of these and other common allergens.
What to Use Instead
Is Vaseline good for healing cuts?
Yes—Plain petroleum jelly, such as Vaseline, is a safe option for healing wounds. Yes, it is made from fossil fuels but it has a low risk of allergy or contamination and studies show it successfully occludes the skin to prevent the loss of water from healing skin.
Is there a better option than Vaseline?
A cleaner option that heals skin even faster is Doctor Rogers Restore Healing Balm, a plant-based ointment. It is made from castor seed oil and plant-based glycerin. This combination of natural ingredients gives the skin exactly what it needs to promote skin healing, reduce irritation, and restore normal skin barrier function.
If you're worried about an infection, you can clean the wound with Hibiclens daily and use Restore Healing Balm, or get a prescription antibiotic ointment like Bactroban, which has a lower risk of allergic reactions and bacterial resistance than Neosporin or Polysporin.
How Long Should You Keep a Wound Covered to Speed Up Recovery and Prevent Scaring?
- Face: 7 days
- Arms and Body: 2 weeks
- Legs and Feet: 4 weeks
When in doubt, keep reapplying ointment and re-bandaging. Keeping wounds moist and covered not only speeds up healing but also protects new skin from UV exposure, which can darken scars permanently.
Signs Your Wound Is Healing Properly
- Stage 1: Redness, mild swelling and clear or slightly yellow drainage. It can crust if not kept properly moist with ointment.
- Stage 2: New tissue forms and pink skin begins to close the wound.
- Stage 3: Full closure with pink skin. Slight itching or tenderness is normal
- Stage 4: Scar remodeling phase—ideal time to use silicone products to minimize scar appearance.
When in doubt, reach out to your dermatologist or primary care physician.
What to Do After the Wound Has Closed? Treatments for Scars
Recommended
- Laser Treatments: Lasers are clinically proven to decrease redness and blend scars faster than Mother Nature. For patients interested, Dr. Rogers begins laser treatments about a month after surgery. These treatments are considered cosmetic and are not billable to insurance.
- Silicone Gel (Dermatix, Kelo-Cote, Strataderm, ScarAway, Silagen): Applying silicone gel twice daily for up to 4 months after suture removal has been shown to improve scar quality at 6 months.
- Silicone Sheeting (Silagen, Cica Care, Scar FX, ScarAway, Retouch): Covering the scar with silicone sheeting for 12 to 24 hours daily for 3 to 6 months can decrease the risk of developing a thickened scar. To use, cut a silicone sheet slightly larger than the scar and apply to the wound. Replace when the sheet starts to fall off.
- Micropore Paper Tape: Covering the scar with paper tape for up to 6 months post-surgery has been shown to decrease thickened scar risk. Use skin-colored paper tape slightly larger than the scar, replace as it falls off.
NOT Recommended
- Onion Extract (Mederma gel, Derma E Scar gel): Applying onion extract gel to a scar three times daily for 8 weeks has not shown significant improvement in scar appearance. One study even found increased redness compared to plain petrolatum.
- Vitamin E Oil: Up to 33% of people develop an allergic reaction to topical vitamin E, leading to redness and irritation.
Citation:
- Lubbes S, Rustemeyer T, Sillevis Smitt JH et et al. Allergic Contact Dermatitis in Dutch children and adolescents with and without atopic dermatitis – a retrospective analysis. Contact Dermatitis. 2017 Mar;76(3):151-9.
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