When doing a big surgery (ie tummy tuck, breast reduction), the scar is EVERYTHING. The question has always been how do we scar better? So we doctors do all sorts of things- deep sutures, types of sutures, taking tension off the wounds, orienting it with skin tension lines. The last line of attack to get a pretty scar is what do you use for scar creams?
This is a new cream called “SKN2017B” (super catchy name). The Aesthetic Surgery Journal March 2019 had a study, “Safety and Efficacy of a Scar Cream Consisting of Highly Selective Growth Factors Within a Silicone Cream Matrix: A double Blinded, Randomized, Multicenter Study.” This is a study out of Beverly Hills, looking at a new scar cream which combines “selective synthetic recombinant human growth factors, hyaluronic acid, and silicone” for a scar treatment.
Things that we know:
- Silicone is widely viewed as a basis for scar healing. You can read my many blogs on it here.
- Fetuses do not scar. This is thought to be due to growth factors, and many have tried in the past to replicate their scarless healing.
- These are tissue growth factor B, basic fibroblast growth factor, epidermal growth factor.
- There is less proinflammatory cytokines in fetuses (inflammation = angry = worse scar, though some inflammation is needed to call all the healing stuff to the site of the wound.)
- Hyaluronic Acid is also implicated in fetal scarless healing.
- Aloe Vera has a history of being a “healing plant.” Some studies show it accelerates wound healing.
- Vitamin C is an antioxidant used to prevent UV damage in skin. It is thought to stimulate collagen synthesis as well.
Study:
- multicenter
- prospective, randomized, controlled, double blinded study
- 49 bilateral and 12 unilateral scars were treated.
- Evaluations were done at 4 and 12 weeks.
Findings:
- scars treated with SKN2017B were 73% relative improvement from silicone treated scars
- this was confirmed by the modified vancouver scar scale, patient reviews and independent reviewers
- it was well tolerated without adverse reaction.
What do I think?
BRING IT ON. This study did not investigate how the SKN2017B works to improve scar appearance. They hypothesize all the ingredients combine and help each other be more effective. It combines a bunch of things to get better scars. I don’t know if /when it will be available, and the cost of this product.
When looking at the photos, some of the scars were widened and pigmented. That indicates to me there was tension on closure, a huge no-no when trying to get pretty scars. I think anything which makes scars better is awesome and should be studied and used, but nothing should replace good surgery: release tension to advance tissues, multiple layered closure, no tension on the skin closure, keep the scar from getting irritated.
So I look forward to hearing more. I am a strong believer in scar care, but am curious if this product will make a big difference in my practice. I have demo’d other products and not found them to be a game changer.