Burn Injury Resource Center
Scars are areas of fibrous tissue that replace normal skin or other tissues after an injury. Scar formation is a natural part of the healing process.
Scars can happen as a result of an infection, surgery, injuries such as burns or inflammation of tissue. They may cause functional and psychological problems for patients.
There are three types of scar: Hypertrophic scar, keloid scar, and contracture scar.
Factors that influence the formation of a scar in a burned area are:
- The size and depth of the wound (a deeper and larger the wound is, will result in a more significant scar).
- Location of the injury: (certain locations in the body are susceptible to form scars such as the deltoid region of the upper arm, the upper back, the sternum, the earlobes and the back of the neck.
- Age, hereditary, and ethnicity factors: scars are more common in young people. People with darker skin are more susceptible to form scars. Some people have inherited tendency to form scarring more than others.
Skin scars happen when the second deep layer of the skin (dermis) is damaged. It is hard to tell how much the patient will scar after a burn injury. Most second and third degree burns part I, II will cause some degree of scaring and the worse the damage is, the worse the scar will be.
This information is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice; it should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. Call 911 for all medical emergencies.