Burn Scar Dark Skin: What Should You Know?

After a burn, inflammation can activate pigment-producing cells around the injured area. The result may be brown, grey-brown, or darker skin beside a scar. This is called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. The scar may also be lighter, redder, thicker, shiny, tight, or uneven in texture. Colour and texture do not always improve at the same pace, and fresh skin can react strongly to sunlight.

A darker mark is not automatically a sign that the burn is worsening. However, a clinician can distinguish pigment left by healing from an active wound, infection, a raised scar, or another skin condition.

Keep the area moisturised once the skin has fully closed, and avoid picking, rubbing, harsh scrubs, bleaching mixtures, or unprescribed steroid creams. Protect the healed area from sunlight with clothing and a broad-spectrum sunscreen suitable for your skin; ultraviolet exposure can deepen uneven pigment. Do not apply products to an open, wet, blistered, or infected burn unless directed.

If the colour remains troublesome or the scar is raised or tight, a dermatology clinician may discuss options such as Fractional Laser Treatment, Scar Revision Surgery, or Skin Graft. Choice depends on depth, location, texture, skin tone, and whether the scar is still changing.

Arrange prompt assessment for increasing pain, warmth, swelling, pus, a bad smell, fever, wound reopening, or rapidly spreading redness. Seek urgent care for a large or deep burn, burns involving the face, hands, feet, genitals, major joints, or a band around a limb, and for breathing difficulty. A scar that restricts movement, bleeds, breaks down, or changes in a new way also needs review.

Ask whether the area is healed enough for pigment treatment, whether the scar is flat or raised, which products are appropriate for your skin tone, and how sun protection should fit your routine. Ask what improvement is realistic and how your skin will be monitored after treatment.