When your skin is injured, the scab will appear over the injured skin. It will feel itchy and you will have the urge to pick up the scab. What is the deal about scab? Why it formed over your injured skin? Did it really have any function or just a hindrance for your injury?
About Scab
Scab is a natural healing process of wounded or injured skin and it formed around the wound or injury. A scab will form for every type of skin injury. Scab is formed as the body response to skin injury, the immediate response is by clotting the blood and thus killing the infectious organism. The blood clot formed by a combination of thrombocytes, fibrin, and protein. Then the blood clot stopped the flow of blood on the skin injury and forming a scab.
The scab will form mostly a few hours after the skin injured or wounded and it is intended to be a protective barrier which protects the healing process going on underneath. Mostly, the healing process will go smoothly and it will prevent the infections from being occurred. But sometimes, the infection occurred anyway and it means your body need an additional help to heal the skin injury.
Picking A Scab
The common rule related to a scab is to never pick a scab because by doing so it will expose your injury to the air and increase the risk of infection. The suggested action is to wait patiently until the scab comes off on its own unless it is suggested by the doctor to do otherwise. The benefits of allowing scab to heal and fall off naturally, among others, are:
- Prevent the risk of infection
- Prevent the scar after healing
- Provide cover to the injured skin
- Prevent further damage to the healing area
- When the new skin has been formed, it will protect the underlying cells
- Prevent the injured area to be bigger than it already is
However, in rare cases, sometimes a doctor will advise you to pick up a scab for a special treatment. One of the common reasons is to drain the infection. The recent research has stated that by picking up a scab, it will actually speed up the healing process of skin injury, especially when a scab is on too long. Basically, there are two main ideas behind this method, the first is to let the injured area absorb more oxygen and the scab is in the way. And the second is the wound no longer need a thin layer of tissue moisture provided by a scab. But of course, always consult your doctor for this kind of special treatment. When you think your scab has been on too long or shown any symptoms of infection, immediately consult your doctor.
The natural healing is the best way
The best treatment to heal a scab is to let the natural healing process going on its own. Wait patiently until the scab falls off naturally and does as little as necessary to the scab. By doing so, you will decrease the chance of infection and minimize the damage to your skin (especially in the face).
But of course, there are some of the simple home remedies to help you get rid of scabs. Note that, the following home remedies can only be done if your scab is completely dry and not oozing pus because that can decrease the effectiveness of these methods.
Plantain Leaves
Plantain leaves have anti-inflammatory attributes, making them the best choice for treating scabs. Take about ten leaves and pound them to extract the juice. Apply the juice to your wound. It will make your recovery faster.
Aloe Vera
The anti-bacterial attributes in aloe vera are able to increase circulation within small blood vessels. This means it only work for superficial scab or wound and it can’t help the deeper wound. Apply the extracted juice from aloe vera to the scab.
Tea Tree Oil
Tea Tree Oil has antiseptic attributes which can use to heal scab effectively and efficiently. Apply the oil with a piece of cotton on your scab.
Onion
Onion has antimicrobial attributes that can help to heal the scab. Cut an onion and pound it, make a paste by mixing it with honey. Apply the paste to your scab and wait for about ten minutes. Rinse it and repeat it four times a day.