Efficacy of Natural Vitamin E Tocotrienol on the Treatment of Surgical Scars

Scar formation is the physiological and inevitable end point of mammalian wound healing and there is substantial evidence that inflammation is an essential prerequisite for scarring. Although scar tissue restores the normal skin barrier, the new tissue is inferior in structural, aesthetic, and functional respects. The mammalian wound healing response may have originated during the time of high susceptibility to infection. Therefore, we may have developed speed optimized wound healing where a multiple redundant compensating rapid inflammatory response allows the wound to heal quickly without infection. The scar is then the price mammals have to pay for evolutionary survival after being wounded. Tocotrienol may be an effective tool to prevent or reduce normal, hypertrophic, or keloid scarring by mediating the inflammatory response. Tocotrienol is a safe and convenient treatment that could be used by mouth or topically. There has never been a study on the effectiveness of tocotrienol in preventing or reducing scar formation.