I hope someone can help me on this: How would a scar appear after a whole lot of years? Of course it would whiten, the tissue would be smooth and soft (more or less the same flexture of the intact skin). But what happens when the intact tissue surrounding it would be perfused with more blood (i.e. through physical exertion)? Would this affect the appearance of the scar in any way? If there are some phycisians here at WF, I would be most interested in their opinions!
Not sure if this is any help for you but I've got quite a large scar that's about 10 years old and its very white. I was curious about this so I did my own little experiment, I ran it under hot water and the skin around it turned red but the scar stayed the same colour, it did look whiter though in contrast to the redness around it...yeah I'm wierd, haha.
I think (notice the emphasis) that the scar itself would be unaffected. It's only an educated guess, but I suspect that while the scar tissue is still living, there are no blood vessels supplying it.
I have one that's decades old. It's not that white. However, I'm at work and cannot take my trousers off to have a look. It
It's about the same colour as the rest of my leg, though I'm definitely on the pale side of average so maybe it would stand out more if I was tanned. The scar itself is clearly visible as it's very smooth, shiny, and hairless. Hairless stands out on me more than other people as I'm undeniably hirsute.
From the medical part of my brain-stored data: Scars look quite different depending on the skin color and genetics of the scarred person. It also depends on the extent of the initial injury. Essentially when skin is sliced the full depth of the dermis, what fills the gap is not new skin, but rather connective tissue. Different skin types result in different scars including keloid scars which are raised areas of thick connective tissue. The result over time will also depend on whether the wound healed while still gaping, leaving a wider scar or if the edges were tightly aligned such as with sutures closing the wound which leaves a narrow scar. Shallower wounds may not leave a scar if the underlying dermis is still intact, Regular skin cells will eventually replace the connective tissue on the surface. This can take weeks to years. Those scars may be darker for a while and eventually fade away completely. From the personal experience part of my brain-stored data: At 4yrs old I rode my tricycle off the porch and onto a barbecue. I had 4 brown stripes on my arm well into my 30s. They got fainter and fainter every year and I can't find them today. Edited to take out the weird forum software burp that I didn't purposefully post.
Could you be more specific? What kind of scar are we talking about here? Is it long? Thin? Deep? Wide? How did it happen? Was the injury a slice from a sharp object like a knife or a puncture wound from a stab? Was it a gunshot? A bite? A burn? A scratch? Where is it on the body? Did the person have the wound professionally treated or was it a home job? Did the wound heal well or was it infected? Did the character pick at it? What color is their skin? How did they get the injury? Was it self inflicted or did someone else do it to them? Was it accidental or intentional? Did the character use any scar reduction treatments? Does the character scar easily or is their skin like leather I have quite a bit of scar experience between being a tomboy, a klutz, and a former self harmer but it's kind of a broad question. Narrow it down a bit and I'd be happy to help
In my experience, if the complexion of the person changes, the scar can become more prominent. Take a look at a scar if you get a sun tan, it stands out a lot more. In elderly people too, their scars stand out more on their papery skin.
I am white (stating this because it is relevant) When I was 16, I fell from my bicycle onto a road composed of mixed gravel, sand and degraded asphalt at high speed. My bike literally split in two when I rode into some pit in the road. I don't remember much of it because I apparently lost consciousness afterI stood up in shock and looked at the wound, but I landed on my shoulder and the rough texture of the ground literally took a chunk out of my right shoulder about 10 by 5 cm in length and width, and about 1,5 cm deep. It was a gaping hole, my whole skin was gone, as well as part of the muscle underneath. Took me more than 2 months to recover. They gave me a choice: replace the skin with ass-skin, or let it grow back naturally. I accepted the latter. The skin did indeed started growing back after a few weeks of intensive rest and treatment, but it was pink at the beginning and very thin. Now, more than ten years later, there is still a patch of skin about 2 by 2 cm of pink, but the rest has grown to look normal. It's not white, but still pink actually. I wonder of it will continue to normalize. Also, I once took a hit from a thick chain (a bicycle chain) to the head just above the left eye in a fight. At first it was a big crack, a classic and corny scar you see in fantasy stories, extending from the brow almost up to the hairline. Now some 7 years later it has nearly faded. You really have to look carefully to notice it. The skin is indeed white, but it is fading (luckily )
The appearance of the scar depends on the depth of the injury and how well it was initially repaired. Only when you have primary wound repair with reepithelialization and angiogenesis is there any increased local perfusion at the wound site. But you are talking about several years later. Scars are made of collagen, and collagen is typically pinkish-white, but do turn more white over time. So that is the simplest way to put it I think. I don't think there any physicians, but I am a third year M.D. student at an American medical school.
Thank you CGB and Greenwood for all the good information I think all is clear now, I can picture what I want clearly
