BENEFITS OF PICKING SCABS

Your mom was right about everything…except when she told you picking scabs was bad. Letting a scab sit slows down the healing process, and here’s why.

When you’re cut the body responds to stop the bleeding and repair the skin. Proteins that circulate in the bloodstream rush to the wound to slow the bleeding, and if they are allowed to accumulate they form the dense lump we call a scab. The scab sits right where your body wants to repair and build new skin, impeding the healing process.

So if you’re injured, wait until the bleeding stops and then apply some Polysporin or Vaseline under a Band-Aid or similar light bandage. Keeping the cut clean, moist, and covered provides the best environment for the skin to heal and reduces the chance that you will scab. And if you do get a scab, removing it and using the bandage/ointment technique until the area heals minimizes the risk of a scar.

The information posted on this blog and website are for general information only and should never be relied on as specific medical advice for an individual reader.  No financial relationship exists between us and any recommended products or persons mentioned. All material contained here is the property of the Sheldon Sowell Center for Health, PC, and cannot be copied, reprinted, or linked to without our express permission.