Why do scars form?

[Joshm5816]

Just wondering if anyone knows why and how scars form. Can getting a really bad skinned knee cause you to get a scar?

[byee]

Excellent question, Josh!

Scar tissue results from injury, typically one that is deep and goes thru a certain number of layers or depth, and is potentially threatening to the body. Remember that the skin is the first line of defense for the body, it's integrity is required to prevent infection, fluid loss, even death. So, when the body senses a deeper wound that can cause more problems, it rushes special cells that more quickly close the wound, thereby safeguarding the body. That's essentially what scar tissue is, the result of special cells that are tougher and quicker healing than 'regular' cells.


Scars result from those injuries that reach a certain depth (and certain layers of skin) so every cut or scrape doesn't result in one. Most people usually develop a sense of what type of cut will result in one.

[Reality]

Excellent question, Josh!

Scar tissue results from injury, typically one that is deep and goes thru a certain number of layers or depth, and is potentially threatening to the body. Remember that the skin is the first line of defense for the body, it's integrity is required to prevent infection, fluid loss, even death. So, when the body senses a deeper wound that can cause more problems, it rushes special cells that more quickly close the wound, thereby safeguarding the body. That's essentially what scar tissue is, the result of special cells that are tougher and quicker healing than 'regular' cells.


Scars result from those injuries that reach a certain depth (and certain layers of skin) so every cut or scrape doesn't result in one. Most people usually develop a sense of what type of cut will result in one.
The Doctor's pinned it here. :cool:

And yeah, the worse cuts for scars, are the ones where you cut right into the skin, or get inpaled/stabbed.

And I don't exactly know what you mean by a badly skinned knee, can you explain a bit more?

[Atonement]

A scar is a natural part of the healing process. Skin scars occur when the deep, thick layer of skin (the dermis) is damaged. The worse the damage is, the worse the scar will be. Most skin scars are flat, pale and leave a trace of the original injury that caused them. The redness that often follows an injury to the skin is not a scar, and is generally not permanent. The time it takes for it to go away may, however, range from a few days to, in some serious and rare cases, a few years