Symptoms of Scars

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Scars on the skin appear when a cut or other injury is healing. At first they may be red and sore looking, but they will usually fade. If the skin at the edges of the wound has come together fairly neatly, perhaps because of a narrow injury or because it was stitched, the scar will usually heal into a thin pale line. In wider scars, where more surface skin is missing and more scar tissue was needed to join the gaps between skin (such as a bad graze on the knee), the scar may be darker and take longer to heal.

Scars are not usually painful. They can be dark and unsightly, and when the scar tissue fades it may be more noticeable when the rest of your skin tans and the scar stays pale, or if you have darker skin.

Abnormal scars are often large (in proportion to the wound). Keloid scars push into the normal skin or hang off the skin in a saggy lump. Hypertrophic scars, which cover a large area, can restrict movement because scar tissue is not as flexible or sensitive as the original skin.

Stretch marks are skin markings that can look similar to long thin scars, but they are actually formed in a different way. See the separate topic on stretch marks for more information.