Is vitamin E useful in the treatment of pitted scars?

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Many people believe that using vitamin E has many benefits in the treatment of pitted scars. Accordingly, ointments and creams containing vitamin E also have the same effect. However, the role of this ingredient in scar treatment needs more research.

1. Is vitamin E useful in treating pitted scars?

Vitamin E is a general term for a group of tocol and tocotrienol derivatives. Since it was discovered that vitamin E is the main lipid-soluble antioxidant in the skin, it has been tested to treat almost any type of skin damage. Many people believe that vitamin E helps to quickly heal all wounds and improve the cosmetic results of burns. Some doctors recommend that patients after skin surgery or resurfacing use topical vitamin E.
To answer the question, is vitamin E useful in treating pitted scars? Experts did a study on 15 patients who had undergone surgical removal of skin cancer. After surgery, patients were given two ointments labeled A or B. A was Aquaphor, a common emollient, and B was Aquaphor mixed with vitamin E. The scars were randomly divided into sections A. and B. The patient was asked to apply: Ointment A on part A and drug B on part B twice daily for 4 weeks.

Physicians and patients independently assessed the scars for cosmetic appearance at Weeks 1, 4, and 12. The criterion was simply to identify which side of the scar looked better. The results of this study showed that topical vitamin E did not improve the cosmetic appearance of scars. In which, 1⁄3 of the study participants showed symptoms of rash, itching, and inflammation of the skin when using vitamin E.
However, in another study, children had scars from surgery when using it. Vitamin E will reduce the risk of keloid formation. Experts have advised using a topical form of vitamin E before and after surgery has improved the wound.
In addition, vitamin E works to treat acne and scars caused by it. Supplementing with foods containing vitamin E will help your body heal scars in different ways.

2. Where do vitamin E supplements come from?

Many foods contain high levels of vitamin E. Therefore, you can supplement this ingredient through your diet such as eating lots of green vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, ..

According to many experts, taking too many vitamin E tablets can be harmful to health. If you take more than 1,000 mg of vitamin E in its natural form or 670 mg in its synthetic form per day, it can thin the blood, increase the risk of bleeding, and even cause bleeding in the brain.
When you want to take vitamin E supplements, you should consult your doctor for detailed advice.

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References: healthline.com, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov