Scar Symptom: Erythema and Thickness

Abstract

Erythema is a word derived from the Greek erythros, which describes red color of the skin or mucous membrane. In particular, erythema and redness in scar are important as they are closely related to scar symptoms and tissue maturation, and thus can serve as an indicator for scar prognosis. There is rich information in the literature regarding its clinical manifestation, pathological mechanism, and its relation to inflammation and symptoms of pain and itching as well as the clinical treatment. Scar thickness reflects the accumulation of collagen content and there is no necessary association between scar redness and thickness. This chapter mainly focuses on the overview of scar erythema/redness in the aspects of definition, possible mechanism related to clinical manifestation and symptoms, and finally the therapeutic options.