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Vitamin E doesn’t enhance wound healing
Anti-oxidants play an important role in reducing inflammation and increasing collagen production. Vitamin E is one of the major antioxidants present in skin, and for many years has been used as a topical treatment for wounds and scars.
Unfortunately, in practice vitamin E preparations have not been shown to provide wound healing benefits.
A study followed people after skin cancer surgery. Participants treated one end of their wound with vitamin E plus emollient cream, and the other end with emollient cream alone. Wounds were treated twice daily for four weeks.
Study results revealed:
- 33% of the participants developed contact dermatitis – redness and irritation at the site where vitamin E was used.
- 12 weeks after treatment, the area treated with vitamin E was no better or worse in 90% of cases.
Due to the lack of benefit and high rate of side effects, we don’t recommend using vitamin E on healing wounds. Instead, we recommend the following measures to speed wound healing and reduce the risk of scarring:
- Silicone/hypochlorous acid gel.
- Low level light therapy.
- A balanced diet containing high levels of vitamin C and fish oil.
- No smoking.
Scars can be reduced using:
- Fractional laser.
- Microneedling.
- Steroid and/or fluorouracil injections.
References
Baumann L, Spencer J, 1999. The effects of topical vitamin E on the cosmetic appearance of scars. Dermatol Surg 1999 Apr;25(4):311-5.
MBBS, MA (Virtual Comm), Grad Cert Hlth Info, Grad Dip Comp Inf Sci
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