The bioflavanoids have been used for several decades by sports trainers to
treat eye brusing so common in boxers. Also European soccer teams have
been using them to help speed healing of  various injuries. They
strengthen capillaries and help normalize their permeability. This can
accelerate healing and reduce brusing.

Bioflavanoids are rather cheap, readily available (at most well-stocked
health cooking.net">food stores) and have no known toxicity.

I'm not sure how many bioflavanoids there are but the ones you see most
often in supplement form are rutin, hesperidin, quercitin and citrin. Take
with your vitamin C for best effect. You can also find vitamin C that
includes some of them if you search around.

Best of luck,

          .........................JMZ

Nine days ago? You can still try the homeopathic agent Arnica, the highest
potency you can find. Will also speed healing.

Nutritionally speaking, you should be taking Bromelain to help digest that
scar tissue.  And maybe some extra zinc.

- sent via an evaluation copy of BulkRate (unregistered).

9 days ago, I was in a mountain bike accident and hit a gravel road (face
first) at 25 mph.  In all, I had 29 stiches in my face and 3 other pretty
deep {*filter*} cuts that went unstiched because dirt was ground in so deep
I didn't find them until the swelling went down (about 48 hours later).

Since then, I've been eating more protein then usual (about 100g daily),
taking 4000 mg vitamin C (500 mg, 8 times daily), 1600 IU vitamin E (as
well as applying it topically) (400 IU x 4 times), and lots of beta
carotene (6 medium carrots daily).  Overall, my face is healing pretty
fast.  The black eye is gone and the scabs have cleared up.

My question is: Is there anything else I can do to prevent scarring?  
Also, there is rather firm scar tissue deep in the skin (especially in
the chin and mouth area) that leaves my face slightly deformed.  Can/Will
this go away?

Thanks for you help.  I'm 25 years old and otherwise in excellent health
and I'm hoping I'm not scarred (at least, not too noticably) for life.

      -- Jeff

6 carrots is not an awful lot. Beta carotene is also available from Spirulina
and from Marigold petals, in greater concentration than in carrots. Don't
forget bioflavinoids and vitamin B complex.

Aloe Vera, but beware there are a lot of junk cosmetics that also contain
extracts of this healing plant, seemingly more as a marketing point than
for any real purpose. It is possible to buy 99.9% pure Aloe Vera gel where
the plant extract itself forms the gel, but beware that other products
advertised as (for instance) 97% Aloe Vera gel actually mean chemical gel
with some unstated quantity of 97% pure AV plant extract added. Aloe Vera
is good for scar tissue, not sure about the exact details. The point about
buying the pure plant extract is that you can then mix it in whatever
concentration you like with whatever you like, without being dictated to
by the cosmetics industry.

--

Go to the best dermatologist you can find and ask him.

Re: Scarring

   Two agents are useful for reducing the size of scars once
they form.  Retin-A and Alpha-Hydroxyacids ( e.g. glycolic ).
Injections of corticosteroids can also help atrophy scars.
See your local dermatologist.

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