A few years ago, I went to see my dermatologist. I had a mole on my shoulder that had gradually been getting bigger with each pregnancy and by the time my fourth was born, it was pretty large. So I went in, the doc looked at it and I left the office with a band-aid in its place and instructions to take Tylenol if it started hurting.
I was pretty excited – for quite some time people stared at my shoulder whenever I wore sleeveless shirts. My eyes are up here, people.
And then it started to grow back. It was pretty small at first – odd, but I wasn’t worried. But after about a year, it was a little bigger than the original mole. So back to the doctor I went.
I was expecting a similar procedure to last time, which I was looking forward to, because by that point, I hated wearing sleeveless shirts. But instead, he told me that it wasn’t actually a mole.
Excuse me?
It was a keloid. A keloid is “an area of irregular fibrous tissue formed at the site of a scar or injury.” In my case, where they removed said mole. Which makes sense, because I’ve always scarred pretty badly. Like, really badly. And, after researching them, I realized that I actually already had some keloids. Why didn’t I know about them before?
Anyway.
I asked about treatment options and they weren’t very appealing. First, they could remove it. Again. But chances were, it would grow back, but even bigger. So to prevent that, they’d do a series of steroid shots (which I researched and all reports said they were pretty painful). And even then, it would probably grow back since I was so prone to bad scars.
Oh. I see.
I decided against that. Because I was assured that, at this point, it’s not dangerous, cancerous, etc. and removing it would mainly be for cosmetic purposes. Exactly.
So I decided to take matters in my own hands (as usual) and look up a natural option. Since I’m an essential oil nut, I figured there was something out there that could help reduce it, if not just keep it from getting any bigger.
And lucky me, I found a few oil recommendations:
- Lavender – French medicinal uses for lavender include cell renewal (especially related to burns) and minimizing scarring.
- Frankincense – The king of oils is used to prevent and reduce scarring.
- Helichrysum – This wonderful essential oil is indicated for reducing scarring, scar tissue and regenerating tissue.
So now, I’m whipping up a scar salve to put on it.
Want to try it, too? Here’s the recipe.
DIY Scar Salve
- 3 oz coconut oil
- 2 oz shea butter
- 1 oz beeswax (or candelilla wax for a vegan option)
- .25 oz vitamin e oil
- 40 drops Frankincense essential oil
- 20 drops Helichrysum essential oil
- 20 drops Lavender essential oil
Instructions
Melt the coconut oil and shea butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Once they’re melted, stir in the wax until it melts (I sprinkle a layer over the top, stir it in and repeat so it all melts).
Once it’s melted and stirred in completely, remove from heat. Stir in the essential oils and Vitamin E oil. Pour into a clean container with a lid, label and store in a cool place (it’ll take a few hours to cool completely). Makes approximately 5 oz.
To Use
Rub a small amount onto scars twice a day. I usually just scrape out a small bit with my fingernail – a little goes a long way.
Do you use a natural scar remedy? What have you tried?
Do you know if this salve would be effective for acne scarring & safe to use on the face? Or would there be a different EO combo that would be more specific to that?
This is the same combo I use on my face for acne scarring, Kaitlin.
Have you found this to help your scar at all? I also have a large keloid on my chest ( about 2 inches below my collar bone) and have tried various things over the years to try to reduce the size or appearance of it, nothing has helped. I had the steroid shot twice about 10 years ago and it seemed a bit smaller for a week or two, then it was back to normal. I find it gets itchy and dry, then hurts more, especially in the winter, and just started rubbing olive oil on it this year. This at least helps it feel better though it looks the same. Anyway, let me know if anything works! Glad to know I”m not the only one!
This sounds nice. I used lavender oil on my face after essentially being burned when poison ivy coverrd the entire left side of my fsce. What was left after it dried was a raw and scaling face. Lavender oil did an amazing job.
I’ve recently started looking in to essential oils–a whole new world!. I’m still a little skeptical and truthfully, the whole scene is a bit cost-prohibitive to a young newlywed like me. However…keloids run in my family and literally every scratch and scar I have stays forever and looks terrible. I’ve learned to just live with it but this may be the tipping point to get me to finally purchase some oils to try it out. Did you really see results over time in reducing the appearance of the scars? I’m amazed.
Would this recipe work well as a night cream for the face or would the beeswax measure prevent it form absorbing comfortably into the skin? Would you suggest halving the beeswax to make it more of a face cream?
I love reading all this information and questions, however the questions do not seem to get answered! I would love to see some pictures of before and afters if anyone has any. I have recently started making salves and mixes for helping with many ailments that seem to not have any resolutions and this would be a great one to start as well.
I have friends who have used it as a nightcream by scooping a little onto their hands and mixing a small amount of water into it to help it spread.
So this post is pretty old now. How do you like the results? I have a surgical scar I want to try it on. I am also considering adding some aloe…what do you think?
I have read other scar remedy recipes, and aloe was an ingredient… I think especially if the scar was from a burn, aloe would be a fine addition! Aloe itself has many fine skin healing properties and I am considering substituting it for the beeswax of this page’s recipe.