Silicone Sleeve Skin
How is it that silicone compression garments are good for burn victim scar treatment?
In my field, I’ve been introduced to silicone gloves, sleeves, and other garments that are supposed to aid in healing for burn victims and reduce the appearance of scarring. I assume it is the supple nature of silicone having some kind of mechanical effect on the skin, but nobody has explained why or how this happens.
In the case of large silicone dressings, I belive that the silicone (or plastic sometimes) takes the place of the skin that’s been burned off. When the skin starts to ooze and create a blister, the silicone helps retain the moisture. For all kinds of healing wounds, but burns especially, it is important to keep things from drying out. It’s when a wound, like a scab, gets dried out and itchy that it can become infected or leave a scar.
If you are talking about the small silicone compresses sometimes applied after plastic surgery, etc. or used to treat an existing scar, I found a study on-line about Scarguard, a liquid containing cortisone, vitamin E and silicone that forms a clear protective film over a scar. The author’s conclusions were positive. “Scarguard contains a 12% silicone gel preparation. Both, silicone gel and silicone sheeting have been previously demonstrated to reduce scar size and erythema. Specifically, the application of silicone after surgical resection has been shown to help prevent the development of hypertrophic scars and keloids in 75% to 85% of cases. Although its exact mechanism is unknown, silicone’s prevention of wound desiccation and inhibition of fibroblast production of collagen and glycosaminoglycans, appear to be contributing factors.” So basically, it works but they’re not really sure why. Hope that helped.
iPod Touch 2G 8GB Belkin Silicone Sleeve Skin Case/Protecter Review