Natural Therapies, Hints and Tips - Wound Healing

It was hard to separate skincare from nutrition when I was asked to write some hints and tips for post-operative wound healing and care for a women’s magazine recently. My clients, both nutrition and skincare, often ask for this kind of help so keeping the word count down was a challenge. I am sure that nobody would want to read the 5000 words that could easily find themselves in this blog post (or in that Magazine – soon to become dissertation) so I will keep it (relatively) brief….

Protein

Protein is needed post operatively to rebuild all of the areas damaged by surgery. High quality protein is essential for speedy recovery. Oily fish is doubly beneficial as, not only is it a wonderful source of protein it contains all of the ‘good fats’ necessary for skin health. If oily fish isn’t your thing, you are not alone…..try nuts and seeds instead.

Magnesium, Shea Butter, Vitamins

Magnesium helps the body repair. Magnesium baths (place 250g of High quality Epsom salts in a warm bath) can be used as soon as your medical team say it’s ok to get your scar wet. Shea Butter and Vitamin E are both traditionally associated with wound healing and scar reduction so a balm containing both of these ingredients massaged into the scarred area should reduce long term scarring. Calendula and St John’s Wort are often found in skincare products formulated to reduce scarring and promote rejuvenation. Again, don’t put anything onto a scar until the medical team say that it’s ok. The act of massaging a balm or oil into the scar will increase blood flow to the area. Massage is often recommended by surgeons as a way to reduce scarring. I know one plastic surgeon who recommends massaging scars to all of his face lift ladies. Vitamin D (mainly from sunshine) is essential for skin health but that is a long story (and the subject of another soon to be published magazine article) so we’ll leave that for another day. If you have any concerns about your skin, post-operative recovery or general well-being, feel free to contact us and we will do our best to help.