Mederma

Recently, while sitting on the examining table in our general physician's office, scratchy paper gown on and all, our doctor commented on the scars we're "lucky" enough to have on both of our knees.  Laughing, we explained that in seemingly back to back klutzy moves we had managed to bang up both of our kneecaps within weeks of each other.

"Looks like it's matching scars on our knees for the rest of our life," we said, with a sigh.

"Not necessarily," our doctor replied.  She grabbed her business card and wrote down the word Mederma, explaining that it's a scar treatment, available over the counter at any local drug store.  "You have to use it like a bad habit," she said with a knowing nod, "but over time you just might see those scars fade a bit."

Intrigued and with nothing really to lose, we sought out a tube of the product the next time we found ourselves near a pharmacy.  It's a little pricey, coming in at just under $20 for a about an ounce of gel.  The minute we got home, we started applying a dime sized drop to each knee twice daily, once in the morning right after we shower and again in the evening, right before bed.

This was three weeks ago.

While the scars certainly haven't disappeared entirely, they are already markedly smaller and less noticeable.  Which means something is most definitely working - particularly as the product packaging made us think we wouldn't even begin to see results until three months out.  

Mederma goes on smoothly and clearly; it has a subtle scent that disappears after it has been rubbed into the skin. The one (minor) complaint we have is that that product tends to dry into a white flaky form, looking a bit like peeling skin after a sunburn.  The flakiness is minimal though and certainly not enough to deter us from using the product. In fact, we are pretty intent on maintaining this "bad habit," given the early positive results.  Who knows? Maybe someday we'll only have a trace of those klutz-ridden scars.  (But we'll still tell the tales of how we got them of course.)

Rating 4 out of 5

Average price ~ $20