To think that this scar won't heal?

[ladylana]

About a year ago, my DS (now 4) got scratched by a kid at nursery on his face. It was the length of his face, bled a lot and was awful. The top half has faded a lot and only becomes visible if he's cold, but the bottom half is still bright red all of the time. DP still thinks it might fade but AIBU to think that this is permanent?

Obviously we can't see it, but you could consider taping to make it less obvious. You can buy reusable/washable silicon scar tape (they're all the same, don't worry about branding, plus you can cut bigger cheaper ones to size), or you can even use just cheap microspore type tape. Try to keep it on at least 12hrs per day, ideally more. This helps the scar to remodel and fade by providing a moist environment. Also make sure he has sunblock on the scar everyday (when he isn't taped)

DS was clawed by a child in nursery when he was 2. She had long nails, and literally potato-peeled a strip of skin from his cheek. It was awful, scab took 8 weeks to heal, and he had a massive visible livid red scar for a few years. I’ve attached a photo from a few months after it happened, to show you how bad it was.

He’s 7 now, and I can’t actually find it on his face now when I look for it. Children’s faces grow, and change pigment, and have lots of collagen. It will probably take time, but there’s every chance it will fade.

Incidentally, if anyone reading this is the parent of a toddler - cut your child’s fingernails!

There would have been a lot less damage done to DS if the girl in question hadn’t had centimetre-long talons (the nursery told me they had clipped her nails themselves when they saw how long they were and how much damage they had done).

Is it just redness or is there indentation of the skin?

It will fade. I had a facial cut as a child so bad I went to hospital and my parents were devastated. I can barely see where it is now if I examine my face 2cm from the mirror. No one else would see it and I never think about it.

The exact same thing happened to my little girl when she was about 3. There were about 6 little scars where another child tried to grab her nose and really scratched her.

Like the other posters - it took forever to heal and for YEARS after when she cried you could see the marks....

She's 35 now and no scars at all! I can't remember when exactly they went - took about a year I think - but they did go!

The silicone scar sheets are great, I had to have a screw put in my hand and have a 2inch scar across the top of my hand. The sheets faded it to the point where I have to look for it rather than it being immediately visible.

It probably will fade, use a high spf. Try and avoid making a big deal of it, as you may make him self conscious.
I had awful scars as a child, an older child fell on me, but with force as they had been pushed by older boys. I looked a right mess! Scarred my forehead, cheeks and nose. They faded to nothing after about three years. Thankfully I was never teased, but I can recall the pain of having grit picked out of my face! I took awhile to heal. My mum and dad used olive oil (that’s all there was back then).

I had a scar on my forehead and you can buy eslastoplast scar reducing plasters which worked well for me.

Didn't remove it completely but improved it a lot.

These. You can use on old scars too which mine was

Weirdly tonight my daughter reminded me of the scar she got from another child at the child minder when she was about four. About half an inch long on the bridge of her nose that obvious for so long that I assumed it was going to be there forever. It was quite obvious as it made a distinct pale patch on an otherwise very freckly nose. Lo and behold it isn't there any longer - neither of us noticed it had gone! She's 8 now and it must've disappeared completely over the summer.

Dont worry about it too much, especially not in front of your kiddo as the last thing you want is him to be self conscious of it.

Another who has a child with a bad face injury as a child that as an adult is almost invisible. He had stitches and a operation on his face after an accident at 6, only can see it now when he gets a suntan and even then it isn't very noticeable.

Does it matter? It's a physical feature, try to forget about it yourself and your child is far less likely to notice or care about it.

It'll fade considerably over the years.

Skin regenerates every 7 years so scars got in childhood fade and disappear by adulthood unless they're really thick and wide

Happened to my DD when she was one at nursery- really deep and awful scratch that bled loads and was so red and inflamed and took months to ‘heal’. Her scar was visible for years- gradually fading but noticeable, but now she’s 7 I can’t see it at all.

I had spinal surgery with clips and stitches and a big scar. It's virtually invisible now