Effective management of hypertrophic scars and keloids has progressed from gel sheeting products to easy-application Spectragel. Available in a large 30-gram tube, Spectragel is the practical and economical replacement for gel sheeting products and may be applied to facial features, skin folds, limbs and joints where use of a gel sheeting product is compromised. When properly applied, Spectragel instantly bonds to the affected scar, forming a protective coating over the surface of the scar and stays on until it is washed off with soap and warm water. A keloid or hypertrophic scar is a permanent, dense mark on the skin, resulting from an injury or surgery. Scar tissue replaces injured tissue as the result of the proliferation of fibroblasts in the wound.
Fibroblasts are specialized cells that produce collagen, a tough fibrous and inelastic protein.
The collagen fills and closes the wound in a normally irreversible process known as scar formation. Spectragel is an elastomer gel indicated for safe and effective management of both old and new hypertrophic or keloid scars. Prior to the creation of Spectragel, patients hoping to reduce their scars were made to wear bulky sheets of Gel Sheeting. Since Spectragel is in a soft gel form, it can be applied to areas of the face where compression bandages and traditional gel sheet products cannot. The mechanism of action for Spectragel is not fully understood.