nobody likes having a scab right well
could the way you treat a scab stop it
from healing correctly you might think
the best thing to do is to leave a scab
alone and let it dry out but that's
actually incorrect dr. Batra you should
actually keep that scab moisturize
absolutely so that old adage about
letting things dry out like you said has
been completely debunked we now know
that it slows down your rate of healing
and you're much more likely to develop
an unsightly scar so what we found in
terms of the research is that when you
keep things hydrated with an emollient
with petrolatum with Vaseline it's going
to help grease the path of those
keratinocytes which are the skin cells
that come in and seal that wound so
you're gonna heal more quickly with less
scarring so in general you do want to
keep it hydrated keep it covered and
protected from the Sun and please don't
let it dry out in scab don't you agree
doctor 100% those studies are there that
show that a moist environment things
will heal better more effectively with
less scar but that being said certain
things you do want to dry out correct
let's say poison ivy to some degree I
think sometimes when you have a really
wet moist allergic reaction allowing it
to dry will decrease some of the
discomfort but I think for any sort of
like an abrasion and incisional wound
anytime you've cut the surface of the
skin I think scabbing is definitely
going to decrease the that's why your
doctor is going to say put up just a
thin layer of Vaseline based product on
one scone yes I've seen small
uncomplicated wounds right now right if
you've got some big seeping wound that
it isn't healing well and you just keep
putting emollients on it time to go see
the expert make sure that everything is
is healing appropriately
you