Since the first caveman received a heavy gash from a preying beast, humankind has needed a way to quickly and safely heal wounds. While mud, resins and honey have at one point served to heal scars, surprisingly little has changed in the world of wound healing.

That is, there is still enormous reliance on thick emollients to help repair damaged skin. Notwithstanding, botanicals like onion extract have found their way into the bandage. But, is onion extract efficient at repairing gashes, tears and acne scars or should moisturizing agents still reign supreme in the world of wound repair?

Recently, a study in Dermatologic Surgery pitted onion extract against an operating room wound dressing stable- petroleum jelly. In the study, 24 patients with a new surgical wound at least 4 centimeters in length had an onion extract cream applied to one half of the scar and petroleum jelly applied to the second half of the scar.

Patients applied the creams to the scars three times per day for at least eight weeks. Meanwhile, independent investigators examined the changes in the scars two, eight and twelve weeks after the treatment started. Reviewers did not notice a substantial difference in the scarring level, swelling or redness among the two scarred sections. The researchers concluded that onion extract gel did not improve the cosmetic appearance of the scar over petroleum jelly.

Prior to this onion extract and petroleum jelly dual, another study again championed petroleum jelly over the wounder healing newcomer onion extract. This time the study involved 17 people with post surgery wounds. One part of the group of participants received a petroleum jelly to apply to the wound, while the other part of the group used an agent containing onion extract.

The volunteers applied the creams thrice daily for a month. After thirty day, when examiners compared the scars, they noted less redness on the scars treated with petroleum jelly. Also, petroleum jelly proved more effective at reducing scar itching as compared to onion extract.

Even though petroleum jelly seems to be the hallmark of an ideal wound salve, a report in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Research found that using a cream containing onion extract proved better that using no scar cream at all.

In this study, 45 throat surgery patients received either an onion extract emollient cream after surgery or no cream at all. The treated patients found that their scar height, but not length, was less that the untreated patients. Additionally, patients using the onion extract cream found that their scars matched their natural skin color better than the untreated volunteers.

In sum, cheap and readily available petroleum jelly should stay in your first aid kit to treat miscellaneous cuts and even acne scars. Just keep in mind that using an onion extract cream is better than using no scar treatment at all.

Sources:

Chung, VinW, Larisa Kelley, Diego Marra and Brian S Jiang. Onion extract gel versus petrolatum emollient on new surgical Scars: A prospective double-blinded study. Dermatologic Surgery; February 2006, vol 32, no 2, pp 193-197.

Jackson, BA & AJ Shelton. Pilot Study Evaluating Topical Onion Extract as Treatment for Postsurgical Scars. Dermatologic Surgery; April 1999, vol 25, no 4, pp 267-269.

Willital, GH and H Heine. Efficacy of Contractubex gel in the treatment of fresh scars after thoracic surgery in children and adolescents. International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Research; 1994, vol. 14, no 5-6, pp. 193-202.

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