Scars & Vitamin E Oil

Despite home remedy lore, vitamin E has yet to be proven scientifically as scar remedy or prevention. Studies continue, so stay tuned.

Age-Old 'Cure'

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, vitamin E was discovered in 1922 as a soluble lipid, or organic compound, in the skin and has been put to use for countless skin ailment cures ever since. Those include healing skin wounds, fading stretch marks and preventing or diminishing the appearance of scars.

Some surgeons still recommend it to help incision scars disappear and vitamin E is a common ingredient in skin creams and moisturizers.

Effective Against Keloids

A study published in the "International Journal of Dermatology" in 2007 demonstrated that vitamin E, in combination with silicone gel, is effective in reducing keloids and hypertrophic scars. Those are extraordinary buildups of scar tissue on wound and incision sites, with keloids the larger of the two.

The study, conducted by Beniamino Gozzi and Gaspare Palmieri at the University of Modena, Italy, followed 80 patients, ages 18 to 63, men and women, who had keloid and hypertrophic scars. Half were treated with silicone gel sheets alone. The others received the same treatment, but with vitamin E added. At the end of two months of treatment, 95 percent of the group who received silicone plus vitamin E experienced 50 percent improvement in their scars. In the group that received silicone alone, 75 percent saw improvement at the 50 percent level.

No 'Cure' for Scars

In 1993, a research report examined all previous studies of vitamin E and the results of using it topically for skin disorders. After a thorough review of research conducted in the previous 40 years, the study concluded there is little---if any---scientific proof that vitamin E heals scars.

Study principals recommended more research to determine whether vitamin E can can contribute to dermatological condition treatments. Leslie S. Baumann and James M. Spencer at the University of Miami Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery published their findings in UM Faculty Publications.

Rare Allergic Reaction

BioMedSearch.com reported on rare cases of allergic reaction to vitamin E in which it was suspected of causing contact dermatitis. Included were conclusions drawn in 2010 by researchers Payman Kosari; Ali Alikhan; Mary Sockolov and Steven R. Feldman at the Center for Dermatology Research, Departments of Dermatology, Pathology, and Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine; Winston-Salem, N.C.

Those conclusions were that vitamin E in products for the skin care rates additional study.

"It appears that vitamin E-induced [allergic contact dermatitis] is an uncommon phenomenon; incidence is low despite its widespread use in skin care products," the website advised. "Given its antioxidant and photoprotective properties, vitamin E should remain an ingredient in skin care products."

Use Caution

Talk with your health care provider before using vitamin E on your skin. If she agrees, give it a try but keep close check on any allergic reaction like itching, a rash or hives. If they appear, stop using the vitamin E immediately.