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Sunday, September 19, 2010

How to get rid of a burn scar

If you read my blog at all, you know that I am accident prone--never serious accidents, but just awkward, embarrassing accidents. Roller skating accidents, accidently-too-short hair cuts, almost airplane accidents, you know what I mean. You might be surprised to know that I don't have many scars from my accidents.

But, this summer, I was unloading my suitcase from the back of the bus and received a nice burn on my leg from the tailpipe. It didn't hurt too bad for too long, and I was fine, but I'm left with an ugly scar on my leg.

Backstory--I have always been proud of my scarless legs. Never playing a sport in my life and always being too scared to take big risks, I haven't had too many chances to get scars. I have one scar on my left knee from when I was 4 playing at my dad's hardware store and falling on a gravel hill. Daddy had told me not to go up the gravel hill and I trekked on up anyways. I fell half way up (I've never been the most coordinated person). By the time I got down the hill, the blood was on my sock and it was unbelievably traumatizing. (I had to put a band aid on it, which was my idea of a nightmare as a child because I was terrified of anything medical related.) Maybe that was the day that I started never breaking rules that involved my safety. I still have the scar to look back on and always remember breaking Daddy's rules.

I had a cyst removed in 7th grade, but I went to a plastic surgeon (and got put to sleep because I was chicken) so that I didn't have a scar. It's on my back, so I'm actually not sure if I have a scar from that, but I don't think I do.

So anyways, back to the story. In May I burnt my leg, but I had no idea that I was going to have this 2 inch dark scar spot on my leg from it, or else I would have tried to figure out how to get rid of it. Now, 4 months later, it still looks the way it did 2 weeks after it happened. Bummer!

Last Friday I was straightening my hair with a flat iron, and somehow it burnt my arm. I have no idea how it happened, but I sure did feel it! The flat iron touched the skin on my arm where it's super tender, the part that never gets tan and is really soft. Needless to say, it bubbled up really fast and stung for a while, but I left for dinner without treating it. (I should have learned about that after my bee sting that still hurts because I didn't treat it with ice or anything. The stinger finally came out last week, two weeks after I got stung.)

For the burn--someone told me to put ice on it, someone told me to put butter on it, someone told me cold water, and someone said whatever I do, do not put ice on it. I never really did anything because I never figured out what to do. I'm still wondering what to do for it. I read something that says vitamin E oil doesn't work and that it's just a myth. I read something about silicon strips, and something saying to rub it with olive oil.

So, who knows? The internet has way too many contradicting answers to: how to get rid of a burn scar.

No one ever comments on my blog, but I'm open for suggestions via comment, email, facebook, or in person! I'll share with you if I get any feedback. I can't have 2 scars in one summer when I have only had one in twenty-one years.

The burn didn't even really hurt bad, it just looks nasty. It's brown and in a nice L shape with bubbles. I'm hoping I don't sound like a diva. I think I probably do, but this is a life-long-lasting issue I'm talking about.

I'm happy to be blogging again, y'all. I had a minor leave of absence because of back to school business. I really want to blog more regularly now! I have high hopes, so we will see. The Vols lost yesterday, but not too bad. It's been a fun weekend, and I'm excited about a not-too-busy week!

2 comments:

laura Powell said...

hi melissa. im commenting on this because i know you love comments and there are no comments so far. i do not know how to get rid of burn scars... but hope you can figure that out! byyyee

laura Powell said...

hi melissa. im commenting on this because i know you love comments and there are no comments so far. i do not know how to get rid of burn scars... but hope you can figure that out! byyyee