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Scar Ointment for New Scars

A two-ingredient ointment for a scar that has closed and is still settling.

Season Year-round

Ingredients

  • Nelson’s Cuts & Scrapes Cream with Hypericum & Calendula
  • Helichrysum italicum essential oil

Method

Thoroughly mix 10 drops of the oil per ounce of cream. Apply to the scar twice daily, and keep it out of the sun — new scars pigment easily and the change can be permanent.

This is for a scar that has fully closed and is still red, raised or tight. It is not for an open wound.

An open glass bottle of deep red St. John's wort oil, with a small yellow flower resting beside it.

This is based on a homeopathic preparation from a British pharmacy; helichrysum is an aromatherapy staple, valued for scars and bruising. I use them together because the combination has worked well for my patients over a long time, and I would rather say that plainly than dress it up in borrowed theory.

Buy helichrysum by its botanical name, Helichrysum italicum — several different plants are sold under the common name and they are not interchangeable.

For older scars, and for scars that are tethering or restricting movement, needling and manual work do considerably more than any ointment will. That is a different treatment and it has its own page.

Sprigs of helichrysum, calendula and St. John's wort beside an open jar of pale cream ointment, a small amber bottle, and a spoon holding a dab of the cream.