Do Scars Always Turn Red?

Do Scars Always Turn Red?

Why is it that scars turn color? Do scars always turn red or do they turn blue or white, too?

It turns out that all scars are red in the beginning. This is because the beginning part of a wound’s healing process is when blood vessels bring blood to the area. Without circulation, the area that is injured won’t heal. And when blood flows to an area, the area may turn red and feel warm because of all the blood that floods into the area.

There’s another part of the healing process for a scar that happens soon after the wound is inflicted. It’s the stage where new blood vessels start growing in the skin around the wound. The purpose of these new blood vessels is to nourish the repaired and newly growing tissue so that fresh new skin can result. When new blood vessels are created, you end up with greater than usual blood flow to the area. And that’s another reason why a scar always turns red.

The complete process of healing a wound and scar may take more than a year. Children’s scars may stay red for a longer period of time. As complete healing approaches, the red color of the scar begins to fade. The extra blood circulation is no longer needed. Ultimately, the scar will blend in to the regular color of the skin. However, this does not happen in all cases.

Ways You Can Reduce Your Scar’s Redness

There are known ways you can reduce the redness in your scar. Here are some of them that all health experts agree on:

1. Cover the scar with a silicone gel, patch or cream that contains this ingredient. Studies have found them effective at reducing redness and size of the scar.

2. Massage the area gently but only if the scab has fallen off. Use a lotion or massage oil so that you reduce any risk of tearing the tissue.

3. Keep the area of the scar warm. Hot packs may help but never put them directly on the skin; always set them on top of at least three towel layers so the hot pack doesn’t touch the skin and burn it. When the area of your scar is warm, you’ll break down old collagen faster and mature the scar, according to studies.

4. Keeping the scar hydrated will help decrease itching and pain, and thus redness.

5. Protect the scar from the sun. The sun’s rays will redden any scar. Clothing may not be enough as the rays of the sun will penetrate through the clothing; use a sunscreen of SPF 30.


Have you purchased InviCible Scars risk-free yet?

Source: Eplasty 2012;12:e1. Epub 2012 Jan 11.

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  1. My scar has turned red and turned dark on that spot then I went on google and searched for ways to decrease the dark spot. Then I found the lemon and sugar scrub so it did it and a scab formed and the same thing happened is there a way to stop the scar from turning dark PLEASE HELP!!!!

    • Hi Drake, It’s imperative to stop traumatizing the skin. It will only make things worse by causing post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. My advice would be to let the area heal completely and start applying InviCible Scars.

  2. Rhiannon Heeley says:

    I have some quite old, fairly deep scars on my arms and legs. 23 of these scars have turned pink/red, and some of them date back to 2012 and have only recently started to turn red. Why is this?

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