This is a post by one of our contributing writers, Ashley.

I was a klutz when I was a child. I still am a klutz today. Which means that I fall, and sometimes when I fall, I get scars. We all do. We do something silly (especially when we are younger) and end up getting a visible reminder of it.

There are a few men in Hollywood that can do the whole “scars are really attractive” thing, but generally scars will draw attention away from your more striking features,some other scars you can tell stories about.

But when you want to get some scar healing done and hide evidence of your childhood, teen and young adult tumbles, there are a few options that you can take advantage of. First things first, though, what kind of scar (and scar treatment options) do you have?

• Kelodial scars – These are those raised or bumpy scars that you sometimes get – here what needs to be done is the skin needs to be flattened and then healed.
• Hyper or hypo pigmentation – This is when you have darker than skin color scars or lighter-than-skin-color scarring. The darker scarring can be treated without much fuss, but the white scarring is something that is the result of natural healing, and therefore we do not offer any viable scar treatments for those thin white scars. If you catch the scar before it is fully healed, though, you can potentially use silicone sheeting to prevent hypo-pigmentation.
• Acne scarring – there are a few different types of scarring that can be caused by acne, and most of them aren’t very pretty. These are reminders of our childhood and teen years that we really don’t want around! There are atrophic scars (scarring that looks like depressions in the skin), ice pick scars (narrow pinpoint scarring that resembles the acne formerly there) and boxcar scars (the same idea as ice pick scars, but wider). Silicone sheeting is also a great way to treat these ghosts of our teen years.
• Stretch marks – Most common for women, stretch marks are often from hormonal changes rather than actual stretching of the skin. While these are still angry and red, these scars can be treated with silicone sheeting.

So if you want people to notice you rather than your scars, consider these scar healing options to help you really shine.

ReJuveness pure medical grade silicone sheeting has been a standard in scar management for over two decades. Back in the early 1990’s  ReJuveness  was a prescription medical device. It required what is called a 510k licensing from the FDA. This meant that strict requirements and criteria had to be met that assured claims being made were backed by scientific studies.  In 1995 ReJuveness changed the formulation of its silicone sheeting from mold pour to a cured proprietor formulation of  USP Grade 6 implantable medical grade silicone.  The result was an outstanding new ReJuveness which well out performed the old silicone sheeting.

We tell this story to put into perspective the host of new inferior silicone products that have been allowed to enter the market parading as authentic “scar management” products. The deregulation of scar management has allowed these inferior products to confused and misaligned the once credible scar management category.  Doctors, patients, pharmacist and researchers are all confused because of certain mis assumptions and misunderstandings of how silicone actually works to resolve these highly puzzling scarring disorders. One mis assumption is that all silicones should be considered to be the same under one homogenous group.  This assumption couldn’t be further from the truth as we at ReJuveness learned in 1995 when we changed our formulation .

In the absence of any real solid understanding of how silicone sheeting works on problem scars, it would be prudent for medical professionals to be recommending a well proven brand like ReJuveness . All the rest of the products which the patient is faced with on the pharmacy shelves are pretenders, imitators and imposters. None of them  have gone through the rigors of scientific verification needed to get a 510k. The silicone gels, creams are unproven and have not been shown to work if not in sheeting form. We get many patients returning to purchase ReJuveness after they have wasted time and money on the imitation products.

Even the number one selling scar product Mederma  a non-silicone product doesn’t work. Mederma  does not have one peer reviewed study confirming the authenticity of its claims. So why do medical professionals keep on recommending it? Did they know that Mederma’s claims are cosmetic?  These are not proven medical products like ReJuveness. The  products in the drug store are not going to get the job done and you are just wasting  your  time and  money trying them.