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How I used castor oil on my scar |
I’ve been writing about castor oil a lot, mainly because I’ve had some wonderful results from it personally. Among other things, castor oil has aided in my recovery from PCOS and dissolved a painful calcium deposit on my heel. That it could do those things were amazing to me — it still is.
Sometimes though, I find myself reluctant to write about my own positive experiences because the extent of my successful healing can sound like I’m making it all up. I think part of it is because the “accepted” way of getting treatment for most of the modern Western world is to go to a doctor, take lots of pills (ALL of which are liver-toxic, by the way) or go for painful surgery (which may or may not make things worse). If you do these things, no one will question your sanity or your prudence.
This is despite the fact that most modern, accepted treatments are expensive, with possibly harmful side effects, may/may not even work, usually become ineffective when discontinued (which means you are chained for life), only seeks to treat the surface symptoms, and abandons even the pretense of healing as its aim. The last one makes me want to alternately cry and tear my hair out because it’s madness… unethical, even.
Meanwhile, the method of treatment I’m proposing (castor oil) is so simple, cheap and effective that many will write it off without even giving it a chance. After all, how can it work when it’s not expensive, painful and harmful to us, right? I know some might mock me or think me as simple-minded, or even worse, a scam artist…
The other day, someone asked me in the comments if I was writing about castor oil because I make money by selling it. I do not produce or sell castor oil on this site or anywhere else. I never have. All the ads on my article pages are contextual ads, not direct product ads. My first instinct when reading this commenter’s question was to feel somewhat hurt/indignant. But after a while, I ended up feeling quite grateful to the commenter as it gave me a chance to clarify an issue that I didn’t even know might cross some readers’ minds.
I seem to have rambled on a bit here… My point is, in the end, it really doesn’t matter what some choose to believe or disbelieve about castor oil. It only matters what I believe/experience/do/ultimately share with the world. I know my messages will go out to those who really need it. That to me is everything. And that is partly why I’ve decided to write this article. Hopefully, it will convince some people to open up their minds a little. Well, I can hope!
This article is quite different from my other ones. I’ve realised that while it’s one thing for me to TELL people about my experience with using castor oil, it’s quite something else when I can SHOW them. That’s right, I’m putting aside any self-consciousness I have and showing everyone my own before-and-after photos. Yeah!!! And here we go…
![](https://skinverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Untitled.jpg)
The story of how I healed my scar using castor oil
THE SHORT VERSION: I successfully healed a three-year old deep burn scar on my leg by using castor oil. Scroll down for photos galore. The end.
THE LONG VERSION: In 2007, I accidentally burned my leg on a hot motorcycle exhaust pipe. Yes, I lead a very exciting life. 🙂 The burn was on the inner calf of my right leg. My initial injury can be classified as a deep second-degree burn.
After the wound scabbed and peeled over a couple of weeks, the scarred skin that emerged was:
- almost completely hairless
- much less sensitive to touch than the normal, healthy skin around it. These mean the burn was deep and severe enough to have “killed” most of the hair follicles as well as some nerve endings.
- had a complete and “permanent” change in color. This was mostly hyper-pigmentation (darkening) mixed with a bit of hypo-pigmentation (loss of color), which is common in deep burns. The pigment change was dermal (reached the lower dermis layer of the skin, as opposed to the upper epidermis only), and deep enough that conventional lightening treatments such as hydroquinone could do nothing to change it.
- there was also a slight crescent-shaped depression close to the centre of the scar. I could feel the dip in my skin by touch alone.
In October 2009, I started using castor oil on my leg.
By June 2010 (9 months later), the scar was almost gone.
Amazingly, after this nine-month period:
- there was normal hair growth — I know the photos below don’t show the hair, but that’s only because I’d shaved my legs.
- my touch sensitivity returned — nerves I previously thought were dead and gone were revived back to life
- skin color/pigmentation returned to normal, blending in almost flawlessly with my surrounding skin. This was not something I expected at all since I have olive skin or Type IV skin
- the small depression had mostly filled in with healthy new tissue
In the most recent photo below (March 2011), you can still see a shadow of the scar on my calf. However, this was deliberate on my part — in August 2010, I decided to stop using castor oil on my leg. As strange as this may sound, I wanted a little bit of my scar to remain with me, because in my eyes, it had turned from a flaw into a reminder of my mind-opening journey.
You may read this article and imagine that the journey was a completely smooth, confident and happy one for me, but that isn’t the case at all. I had many ups and downs. During the first few months, I had many “downs”. There were days when I lost faith and thought about giving up. But as I discovered, all things change with time.
So yes, I want to keep a little bit of my scar with me. It’s a reminder of how far I’ve come and how much I’ve healed. Even now, everytime I look at it, I’d feel so very grateful for my healing and in awe of my body’s amazing transformation.
It truly makes me wonder what else is possible!
My method of using castor oil
How I used castor oil was easy — I kept it on my scar as much as I can. There were many days when I kept castor oil on my scar for almost 24 hours a day (excluding the breaks for showers).
During the day, I would massage castor oil into my scar. Sometimes I did this a few times a day. I learnt to carry a tiny travel bottle of castor oil with me to do this in the restroom at public places or at work.
At night, I would put a castor oil pack on my scar before going to bed. A castor oil pack is just a way to keep castor oil on the skin by wrapping it up. For my castor oil pack, I would slather the oil on my scar, cover it with cotton gauze, put more castor oil over that, and then wrap my calf up in cling film (plastic wrap) to keep it from staining my sheets. I then put on a long sock to make sure everything stayed on while I slept. I know this sounds like a lot of work, but I got it done very quickly, usually in less than a few minutes.
What I used
- I used only microwave-safe cling film that’s toxin-free, which seems to be fairly safe. It’s important to use toxin-free plastic if you’re putting on a castor oil pack. Castor oil is a very good solvent and can displace the chemicals and dyes in some plastics. Once displaced, these chemicals may be readily absorbed by the skin, leading to irritation (thanks to dollfaceluna for pointing this out to me!).
[UPDATE:I recently found something that might work even better than cling flim — silicone food wraps (sometimes called stretch lids/silicone lids). They’re stronger than cling film, clear, washable and maintain their shape.Well, the silicone wraps turned out to be not so great after a while. They tore and were just a little too thick to be comfortable. I went back to cling film. ]
- I used cotton gauze because it was cheap and disposable, but when I first started out, I was using cut cloth (basic unbleached cotton). Both are fine, but because castor oil will go rancid eventually, I’d need to wash/dry the cloth every few nights to keep it fresh. Eventually, I switched to cotton gauze that I bought at the pharmacy. Gauze was cheap, plentiful and disposable, so I didn’t need to wash it. It came in long strips so I cut them up into small squares for my use. If you decide to use cloth instead, here’s a tip: wash it out with baking soda. Baking soda gets castor oil out very well.
- The brands of castor oil I used were Home Health, Heritage and Now Foods (where to buy castor oil?). However, this shouldn’t matter. Any brand that’s hexane-free and cold-pressed will do (the oil should ideally be cold-pressed because it retains more nutrients this way — the cold-pressed oil extraction method is much gentler than conventional methods; for example, it uses no heat). Anyway, I couldn’t tell any difference in the quality between the brands I used. So don’t worry about brands so much, I made my own purchasing choices based on how large a bottle I could get for as low a price as possible, just because I go through a LOT of castor oil. 🙂
I used castor oil this way daily, but I also took breaks from it once in a while to let my skin rest. I found that my heavy usage of castor oil would sometimes “loosen” the skin on my scar, making it look a bit wrinkly. Kind of like the way skin would “prune up” when we stay in a bath too long. I wasn’t worried the first time I noticed this “loosening effect” because I somehow knew it was temporary. This probably happens because castor oil is a very good humectant and will put moisture into the skin. The breaks I took gave my skin a rest and then everything would tighten up again. This would be anywhere between a week to two weeks. I took as much time as my skin needed to tighten back up.
Just to be clear, this temporary loosening only happened because I was using castor oil very intensively on my scar (almost 24 hours/day and over many consecutive days). I’ve never gotten any such effect through normal usage of castor oil on other parts of my body or my face.
In the beginning, I worried that taking these breaks from my regimen would delay my healing. But when I saw that my scar was continuing to heal and progress regardless, I started to change my mind. I now believe these breaks were beneficial and possibly even crucial in healing my scar. I believe my skin was rebuilding itself more efficiently during the rest periods, while breaking down the scar tissue more actively during the “on” periods. But that’s just my personal opinion, I don’t exactly know how castor oil was able to do what it did for me, I only have my theories. (If you’re interested in finding out more on your own, google Edgar Cayce and castor oil. Edgar Cayce was a pioneer and advocate of castor oil use. )
Like I told a commenter (Matt), it’s a fairly intensive daily regimen, which was sometimes hard to keep up with. But then I started to see results… Slowly but surely, I saw my scar changing with my own eyes after a few months. This was the proof that kept me going when I would have otherwise given up.
How my scar changed
Everyone’s scars and skin injuries are different so it would make sense for us to heal differently. This was how my scar changed.
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- The appearance of tiny light dots
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After a few months, I started seeing many tiny, light-ish dots in my hyperpigmented scar. They were so tiny at first that I could only see them by looking closely under the bright light of a torch. Then the tiny dots grew large enough that I could see them in normal lighting.
These dots continued to expand and eventually started to join up with each other. I got very excited at that. Eventually, I had small patches of healed, unblemished skin within my scar, which I spent many minutes staring at and touching…. I was simply amazed at them.
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- Hair growth (important for regeneration!)
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At the same time, I started seeing short and very fine, light-colored hairs appear on my scar. At first, these hairs were almost colourless and looked “golden” under a light. Over time, they grew longer, thicker and darker, until they looked no different from the hair on the rest of my legs. I noticed that my scar started to show faster improvement after normal hair growth returned.
This is probably because hair growth and follicles are important in cell regeneration. You may be surprised by this, but stem cells — which turn into our skin cells and nerve cells and everything else — originate from our hair follicles (these stem cells also aid skin regeneration after an injury—read ‘Hair follicle stem cells – the hairy truth‘). Knowing that my follicles were important in healing my scar, I made sure not to harm them by waxing since this would pull them from the root. And yes, I admit that I even avoided shaving my scar most of the time just to be safe. Although in theory, shaving should not do much harm, and what harm it causes should be temporary at the most.
Basically, the changes in my scar came slowly and started out very small, but these little changes added up to a big one over nine months.
In fact, here’s another tip: if you’re trying to heal a scar with castor oil, take a good, clear photo of it now if you can. It would be useful for you to look at it and make comparisons after a few months just because it’s sometimes hard for us to see the changes in something that we look at everyday.
About the photos
It was awkward for me to take photos of my calf with my phone. The easiest way for me to take a good shot was to rest my right calf over my left thigh. I actually have tons of photos, these are only a few. What can I say… I’m a big geek and something of an amateur documenter. I’ve been journaling for many years now for my own nerdy pleasure. I never thought I would share these photos with anyone else, let alone publish them online for the whole world to see!
If you’re reading this and have a deep scar you wish to treat, I hope my photos and story give you some hope. 🙂
Note: Thank you to the girl I saw at lunchtime today. She was walking ahead of me in a skirt and had the same burn scar I did, on the same place on her calf. I really, really wanted to ask her about it (motorcycle exhaust pipe, huh?). I wanted to roll up my pant leg, show her my calf and share with her what I did to heal it. But I didn’t. Eventhough I would have approached her with nothing but love and an enthusiastic desire to share/help, I thought there was a chance she would not have wanted my help at all or not in that setting (we were in a crowded place and she was not alone).
Afterwards, I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision in not speaking to her. Sometimes, we fear too much and a golden moment in life might pass us by. I thought about how I could make things right somehow, and I came up with the idea of putting this article + some of my photos together. So this was all really inspired by her. Thank you!
Good morning,
Thanks for sharing this to help people, God bless u.. .
I use to have a dark eye circle, out of frustration I used a harsh oil on it, and it burnt d area, thereby turning d dark eye circle to red, I’m using coconut oil now, it’s healed, I no longer feel pains there again, but the only problem I have there is d scar, it doesn’t seem to want to go, the scar is not dark, it’s red somehow, I’m just worried ????, I don’t know if castor oil will Unite d colour on my face , thanks
Hi Bella
I’m sorry to hear about that, but I’m glad the area under your eye has healed over now. I believe that with time and lots of patience, castor oil can help to heal the leftover scarring as well.
All the best
Sam
Hi,
Thank you for this! I recently tripped and fell while running, and have a lot of skin abrasions (also known as road rash), on my knees, hands, and face. It was pretty awful. The wounds have mostly healed now (this happened two weeks ago), but the resulting skin, is all light pink/white (what you would call hypopigmentation, not hyperpigmentation). Because I am African American, this is a huge problem – I don’t know when or if the melanin will come back. My mother always used castor oil on my hair growing up, so I know it is very beneficial.
I guess my question is – do you think it was only helpful for you in that it lightened your skin tone? Obviously, I don’t want these scars to get any lighter, I want them to darken. You mentioned that your scar had hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation, so I was just wondering.
Thanks!
Hi Patricia
I’m sorry about your fall, it sounds painful! But I’m glad the area’s healed over now. You might have lost some layers of skin too since you see some pink in the scarring.
To be clear though, castor oil didn’t lighten my skin tone. I don’t think it can do that. But I get what you were trying to say.
From what I could see as my scar healed, castor oil seemed to be restoring the cells to health bit by bit, and this included righting the pigmentation and melanin (on top of the nerves and blood supply etc). So in the parts where I had lost all pigmentation, those came back, and the parts where I had hyperpigmentation, those appeared to fade as they were replaced with healthy cells.
The overall effect is that the coloring of my scar became mostly what it had been before my burn (olive tone). I should mention though that that part of my calf doesn’t get much sun so I was never very tanned there. If I had been more tanned, it’s possible that my scar might have healed to appear temporarily lighter than the rest of my skin just because I assume regenerated cells will go back to their “original setting” (an untanned state) until I had a chance to expose the area to more sun.
I believe your scar will repigment slowly too as the scar tissue gets replaced with healthy cells. You should be able to see it quite clearly as time progresses. Perhaps you’ll see tiny dots like I did in mine. And if you want to avoid having potentially temporary lighter skin there as it heals (I believe African American skin can tan so your cells’ “original setting” may turn out to be a few shades away from your current skin tone), you can always maintain some sun exposure as you heal so there can be a more even match sooner.
Be patient though. I know the loss of pigment is quite distressing and it’s perfectly understandable that you’d want to resolve it as quickly as possible. But from my own experience, the skin (and body) will heal what needs to be healed first and do it in a certain order that’s most beneficial to our health. It could be that the blood supply and damaged nerves might be healed first before you see any cosmetic changes. If that happens, don’t be discouraged, just remember that you’re getting the best healing possible.
Best of luck!
Sam
Hi Sam,
Just thought I would give a little update, I have now been using castor oil in conjunction with vitamin E oil as I find castor oil to be too thick to rub into my skin. I have done so for a few weeks now and I have already seen some fading in my sunburn patches on my legs. They are still very visible and defined but I can definitely see a slight improvement, the pigmentation has slightly faded. I remain hopeful that with continuous use over months time, they will have faded to a much greater extent and hopefully will one day fade completely back to my skin tone. My scars are only hyperpigmented and I really hope the discolouration will one day completely correct itself.. I believe the castor oil is repairing the skin cells and correcting the Melanin very very slowly..
I still feel a little discouraged as it is a very slow process.. but I won’t give up!
I apply the castor oil at night and wrap my legs with clear film, do I need gauze/cotton ? I find that the oil does stay on the skin with just the film.
Jessica
Hi Jessica
Oh thanks for coming back with an update! It’s good to hear that you’ve already had some fading and that you won’t give up. I know what you mean about the slowness of the process — what helped me when I was treating my burn scar is the thought that time will go by the same whether I applied castor oil each day or not, so I might as well do it 🙂 Anyway, I believe you won’t be sorry as the results will be true healing that is permanent, rather than a quick fix that may not have any effect – temporary or lasting. I’ve had my share of those.
Yes, I suppose you can skip the gauze/cotton if that has worked fine. In my case, I found that having the gauze kept the oil concentrated in one place rather than moving around all over the plastic and my leg throughout the night. I tend to toss around a lot in my sleep.
As an aside, there’s an old case where a man who had chronic pain loved how castor oil helped to ease his discomfort so much that he covered his mattress with castor oil and slept that way each night, thereby making the entire bed his castor oil pack. So it seems there’s as many ways to use castor oil as there are people 😀
Sam
Thank you for sharing this,i have burn my skin with a medical cream around my eyes for three years now ,an now my eyes are very much dark , i have been seeking for help i use alot like bio oil ,clinica vitamin e creams and oil but does nt help,,i will also try castor oil it could help mybe
Best of luck Joseph, and please let us know how you get on.
Sam
Hi, thanks for this post. I’ve seen it multiple times in the past. Now that I am 37 weeks pregnant I’m dealing with really dark stretch marks. After having the baby I plan to try this in conjunction with dermarolling to see if I can get the stretch mark scars to break up at the dermis layer.
Hi Samantha,
I wanted to give you an update on my post back in June. I started using Castor oil to treat a two years old scar and a new one. I am very happy with the results so far. My old scar started fading after 3 months of regular use of castor oil. Now after 6 months, all the dark parts have faded, but the hypo-pigmented area is still lighter than the rest of my skin color. For the new scar, it has been healing nicely and I can now hardly see it. I usually put a castor oil filled cotton around the scar and wrap it with a gauge. I mix the castor oil with some Vitamin E as well.
I wanted to ask you how long before your Hypopigmented scar started changing color? Was it before or after 6 months ?
Thanks a lot for posting about your experience. It has been a great help to me and many others. I am amazed how castor oil works! I have tried earlier all the scar remedies available in the pharmacy, without much success.
Thanks again,
Maya
Hi Maya
You’re very welcome and thanks for coming back with an update 🙂 I’m very happy for you!
I can’t remember exactly when the hypopigmented areas started to fill in with some colour. It was not something I’d expected at all so I wasn’t actively looking out for it. But one day, I suddenly realised that those hypopigmented areas were not as “bone white” as they used to be, and were looking a bit more natural.
But I can say that it took longer for me to notice this change than the fading of my hyperpigmented areas — so it’s likely that healing the hypopigmented areas took more time overall. Normal sun exposure might have helped spur the process too. I live in a pretty sunny place and walk around with my legs exposed most of the time.
So definitely don’t give up — I believe with more time you’ll see something similar happen with your scar.
Best of luck!
Sam
Thanks a lot Sam for your quick reply. Yeah I am definitely planning to continue for at least another 6 months and see how it goes.
I would have never thought about it if I didn’t find your blog.
Best regards,
Maya
Hi Samantha,
I wanted to give you a quick update as I thought it might help other people. Again thanks a lot for writing about your experience. I don’t think I would be able to heal my scars if I did not read your blog.
After my last comment, I started adding shea butter along with Castor oil to treat a 1 year burn scar. After only 2 weeks of regular use, the hyperpigmentation started fading. Now it is barely visible and I am hoping within a month it will be completely gone. After adding shea butter, I could see a difference from day to day. I don’t know if you ever used it before or not. I read that it is great for treating Keloid scars as well. I add about 50/50 Shea butter and Castor oil. So if someone is impatient and would like to see faster results, I highly recommend it.
Also for the hypopigmentation, I started adding ginger oil twice a day for the past month. After 3 weeks, I started seeing a tiny bit of color coming back. I hope with regular use, the color would be completely back. I have almost similar skin tone like you or slightly darker.
Thanks again and I hope my message would help others.
Best,
Maya
Hi Maya, thank you so much for sharing your tips with shea butter and ginger oil!
It’ll definitely help others out there.
p.s: I’m very tempted to try shea butter now because of you 🙂
Much love,
Sam
Hi Sam,
I wanted to thank you once again for writing this blog. It did help me a lot in the past year. I thought to give you a final update. I managed to get rid almost of an old scar thanks to your blog! It took me over a year with the Castor oil treatment. I have a darker skin tone than yours so it might be why it took longer. Also, I started using a dermaroller towards the end along with Castor oil and I think it did help in getting quicker results. I only used the dermaroller once a month for 3 months. Definitely the Castor oil helped in getting rid of the hyperpigmentation and making the scar almost invisible.
Now I use Castor oil everywhere and it is indeed an incredible oil!
Thanks!
Maya
Hi Maya, thank you so much for coming back with a final update! I’m very happy to hear that you’ve had wonderful results ????
Happy Holidays and be well!
????????????
Sam
Hi maya
Did your scar diminish completely with no sign of it at all
Did u use CO day and night?
Or only during the night?
Thanks so much for your write up. Please i have a big scar on my face, I have used many oils including bio oil. Though my sister sent two bottles of castor oil to me for trial, please how fast can it work cause the area is too dark.
Great articles!
I’ve read that castor oil can—over time—dissolve internal scar tissue (from post-op), and was wondering if you had any other information on this?
I’ve been using castor oil packs on my knee where there’s internal scar tissue, and I’ve heard it takes time, but WILL help dissolve it.
Just curious as to your thoughts!
Hi Derrick, I don’t have much further info apart from my own personal experience. And yes, I believe internal scar tissue can be dissolved with time and that castor oil packs can help with this.
You may also want to look into magnesium, probiotics and enzymes.
– You can try spraying magnesium oil on your knees (or anywhere on your body). Magnesium is antagonistic to calcium and can help dissolved the calcified tissue in scars. It’s also good for overall health. I’ve used magnesium on my scar as well.
– Probiotics or fermented food/drinks can help. Home-made kombucha, yoghurt or water kefir can be helpful. There are some reviews of kombucha helping to heal scars.
– Another area is enzymes. Certain enzymes can break down fibrin (the fibrous tissue in scars). You could take more enzyme-rich foods such as papayas, mangoes, pineapples, and kiwis. There are also supplements that can do the same e.g. serrapeptase.
Hope that helps!
Sam
Hi Samantha,
I’m following a super healthy strict diet and using castor oil mixed with prickly pear oil after skin damage from a dermatologist cream. Do you think if you would have continued using castor that the crescent shaped scar would have completely filled in? Just curious? I’ve tried many natural oils over the past 8 months since the damage without any luck but will stick to castor oil for at least 6 months and update you. Thanks for the article because I was starting to give up on ever recognizing myself again.
Lonnie
Hi Lonnie, the crescent shaped indentation was much deeper originally and I could feel it quite clearly by touch alone. Now when I run my hand over the area, there’s no sign there was ever an indentation — it has filled in I feel by >95%.
It’s mostly visible now because of the hyperpigmentation that remains there. I think if I had continued, that would have completely faded too.
I hope that helps. Good luck with your healing and keep me updated 🙂
Sam
Great to hear! Thank you for the encouragement. I’ll come back to update you in 6 months. I plan on writing a blog myself since yours inspired me to keep trying and to not give up. Hopefully, I’ll be able to inspire others and pass it forward. 🙂
Hi Lonnie, once you start seeing results, you’ll be inspiring yourself and others too 🙂
p.s: I hope you don’t mind that I removed your email address above — it’s to protect you from spambots ????
Feel free to update here anytime. I’m happy to chat with you!
Sam
I have hyperpigmentation on my nose. There is quite a large scar there as after Mohs surgery to remove skin cancer, I then had reconstruction surgery. The skin in that area feels very rough! I am going to start using castor oil right away and hope for the best.
Good luck Kim, and let me know how it goes ????
Sam
Hi Samantha!
I have a scar for almost 10 years when I accidentally pour a boiled water on my leg. I have used lots of cream to improve its appearance but nothing has changed. I just bought a bottle of castor oil and hoping that it would help me. Also hoping that it can still help fade my 10 years old scar. May I ask how frequent should i apply the oil?
Hi Nelia, I applied castor oil every day with breaks in between. Maybe you can try something similar?
Good luck!
Sam
Hello I got severely scratched by a lady I got into a fight with. Will castor oil help
Hi samantha
I have small holes on my face formed by white heads . Can castor oil heal it ?? How long it would take to heal.
Samantha, I know this is an old thread but I wanted to share my story.
Three years ago I formed this bump on my inner leg. It grew painful and started to itch. I went to the doctor and they told me it was an ingrown hair. They could remove it but I did not want to pay thousands of dollars. I used Apple Cider Vinegar to burn it off but it formed some scar tissue.
I wanted it smooth so I have been applying coconut oil and doing massage to it but it still remained with the lump under the skin.
I came across your article and having some castor oil decided to try it. I massage it with with castor oil for about 15 mins in the morning and at night, and then apply a castor oil pack after doing the massage. It has been less then a week and the skin is almost flat and is returning to its normal color.
Thank you for posting this and you stay off those bikes, as I have done for the past 10 years.
Have a good day.
JJ
Hi JJ, thanks for taking the time to share your story. I’m really glad castor oil helped with the scar tissue on your leg. It’s an amazing oil, isn’t it? 🙂
Sam
Hi Samantha. I have a 15 year old burn scar on my arm the size of, I guess you could say the top part of my pinky finger. I’m going to try the castor oil method that you used but with Shea butter. I use Shea butter and coconut oil mixture as a moisturiser for my face mask so will now make some with castor oil. I’m going to use it for my burn scar, and cyst.
I saw in another of your post how a lady used it for her cyst and that it went down. I have had a cyst for 1 yr and 7 month now. I have the same thoughts as you when it comes to modern medicine, how it just treat the surface but not the real issue happening inside. Also I know some people will think it’s plain stupid of me not to have surgery for it if Ive had it for that long but the doctors gave me antibiotics 3 time in the space of 7 month!!! I would normally never take it but I was desperate to get rid of the cyst. The antibiotics did not help with the cyst at all, it also gave me some horrible side effects. I knew then (from research) that surgery won’t get rid of 100% and I could get infection if I got it and it could return. So I read articles online and started using home made methods. I went through a few and the best one was using a small amount of coconut oil with 2/3 drops of tea tree oil on a cotton pad and securing it in place with zinc oxide tape. And my cyst from that would go nearly completely down and the pain would go. The first time I used it my cyst was the size of chick pea or slightly bigger and in the middle there was a small crater where pus came out off. Which I know is gross. Using coconut oil and tea tree my cyst went almost completely flat but I have a scar and it still throbs even after a few month so I still have to use coconut oil and tea tree at least once a week. Like you im a amateur documenter so I like taking pictures of the progress so I know exactly how much difference it has made. Reading your other post and this post I’m going to try castor oil and reading one of the above comment I’m also going to add Shea butter to it. I’ll try to keep you updated 🙂
Good luck, Amara! I’m looking forward to hearing your updates 🙂
Sam
Hi Samantha, thanks for this blog post!
Since a couple of people have asked you about stretch marks I wanted to share my experience –to offer others hope.
I used to have quite a few stretch marks on both sides of my hips due weight gain and loss. I felt very self-conscious about them as I had many–and they were lighter than my olive skin tone. To be very frank, they looked really unsightly.
I found this post several years ago and decided to try applying castor oil on the stretch marks—I also read somewhere else that coconut oil might also work so I would alternate using these two oils.
I am gonna say that I applied the oils for maybe two months –every day, sometimes twice a day. After two months, I saw no improvement at all —so I simply gave up.
Imagine my shock and surprise when about six months later I suddenly noticed that I no longer had stretch marks. My skin is completely smooth– no sign of stretch marks anywhere !! I could not believe my eyes!
Morale of the story–don’t give up even if you see no improvement, keep applying the oils– and one day, you might be very happy with the results!!
Hi Lara, thank YOU for sharing your update.
Your results are nothing short of amazing… And I learned something new! ????
Thanks again,
Sam
Does this work for stretch mark scars too. I’m in between with using Aloe Vera, Coconut Oil, or Castor. If anything I would make a mixture with all 3 because it’s something about having stretch marks that irritates me so badly , I just want to fade them to look very close to invisible. The shiny tissue did fade though with regular use of a Shea butter mix I made though but I wat to get rid of most of the tissue. Is Castor oil good on stretch marks?
Hi Naisa, you may want to read Lara’s reply here. She had good results over time.
Sam
I wanted to let people know that castor oil healed severe burns on my lips in less than 3 days after having them for over 9 months and trying a variety of other products and remedies. I got the burns from trying a home remedy for what I thought might be angular cheilitis (but was likely just dry lips). The home remedy was honey, which normally might be fine for lips, but I used a real Turkish honey from Trader Joe’s and later found out that it has pine in it, so that might be the culprit. I had applied the honey to my upper and lower lip throughout the day, and with the chapping, I didn’t realize that it was actually burning my lips. By the end of the night, all the grooves on the lower lip were completely smoothed out and I had tons of little bumps all over. The insides of my mouth also became droopy and fleshy looking. My lips began peeling like crazy since then on a daily basis and took on a very bad appearance: the skin was mostly flattened and smooth except for very tiny wrinkles in the center. I tried all the normal lipbalms, Vaseline, and then a makeshift blend of Carmex, peanut oil, and olive oil (which is a lip-safe version of an Edgar Cayce remedy for scars). I used that for over 5 months with some result, but minimal. The bumps disappeared except for one but the peculiar wrinkles over the flat skin didn’t improve much. I was still deeply upset by the appearance and the fact they hurt always and were tight and flaky.
I decided to try plain castor oil a few days ago and used it continually throughout the days but Vaseline the first 2 nights to sleep (as normal). The major breakthrough came just today (day 3) after I had gone to sleep with the castor oil on my lips instead of Vaseline. I woke to find all the skin on both the upper and lower lip peeling off in thicknesses of my fingernails except for on the absolute outside boarder of the lower lip. They were so tight and painful it hurt to smile. It was either a very good or bad sign. The skin was entirely smoothed out again in the morning, but I decided to keep applying the castor oil all day hoping it was helping and not hurting. I checked the mirror throughout the day and noticed those odd little wrinkles coming back as usual, so I didn’t think much of it and figured I was in for the long haul with the castor oil to see if it would even help bring them back to normal. But by dinnertime, when I went to apply it again, my lips were nearly back to normal, to my utter amazement.
On close inspection, I know they are not exactly as they once were, but no one else could ever tell anything is amiss–not even my husband. I am so excited and just can’t believe that after 9 months of trying all sorts of other things, this worked so well after only 3 days. I am sure that with continued use, they will improve more, but I am super thrilled as it is. The bizarre drooping and sagging inside the mouth is still there. I have no idea if the castor oil might help that over time–hopefully.
I have a lot of other very serious damage in my body from pregnancy complications and medical mistakes thereafter, so I will be using castor oil for over 13 torn ligaments, tendons and muscles (that have left me bedridden for over a year) and hundreds and hundreds of stretch marks on the hips, butt and thighs (from throwing my spine and pelvis out). I had tried already with castor oil for these but was in too much pain to bathe, so it didn’t have any effect. Based on other people’s results, I would expect it to take about 9 months or more, so I will begin when I know I can bathe regularly and be consistent. I will certainly report back any positive results for torn ligaments, tendons, muscles, and stretch marks if and when I have them. I am using other remedies as of now, though.
But thank you very much, Samantha, for sharing your story, results, and pictures. I just want to give hope to anyone with anything lip related that I got almost immediate results with castor oil and am super thrilled and impressed.
Hi Erika, thank YOU for taking the time to write about your experience 🙂 It’ll give hope to other readers, I’m sure.
And I’m very happy you’re seeing good results after a few days. That’s pretty amazing!
Looking forward to hearing your updates ????
Sam
I have 10 year scar on my legs due to insect bites and they are quite a lot I really hope this would heeeeelp.
Hi thanks for your valuable post.This made me confidence regarding growth of hairs on my mustaches scar.Hope if I use castor oil for few months they may grow back.
Kindly suggest me in this regards
Hi Samantha. Thank your for answering all the requests. I was bitten 5 months ago and received a laser to treat the redness of the scars (on face). The doctor applied too much heat and left with burns on the scars that when the inflamation settle down revealed indentations on each the 3 sites the doctor treated (no luck at all). I’ve used all the treatments prescribed and then silicone sheetings but the indentations stayed the same. looking closely there’s no hair follicle on the sites – they have been erased by the laser. Do you think that there is a possibility that if applying castor oil on these burns+scars can get new follicles (although they’ve been burned) and fill in the indentations? I’m at 3 months exactly post laser burns.
Thank you so much for you care to us all
Hi Hugh
Thank you for your kind words, they mean a lot to me!
To answer your question, yes I believe you can heal your burns with castor oil with time and patience.
And if you find castor oil on the face a little uncomfortable (it’s quite thick), other oils should work too. Since you’ll be applying it on your face, I would suggest using an oil that feels comfortable so you can keep up with the daily applications more easily (e.g. shea butter, Vitamin E oil, coconut oil). I find that consistent applications and time are more important than the type of healing oil used.
With patience, I believe you can see the vellus hair return to your scars — and that would be a very encouraging sign of more healing to come.
Much love
Sam
Hi Samantha. Thanks again. It is sticky on face but i try to aplly it most at night. I prefer using castor oil rather than others because of the so positive experiences with CO shared in this site. Unfortunately i have 2 really deep burns and they are over scars…one of them is circular and with 6 mm. they are like craters red/brown angry and can be seen by very far on my face. On light the holes are very visible and shiny. So if i have sucess with CO it will be really the prove that it is wonderful.
I will keep update in the next times. Right now i’m 3 months post burn laser and 1 week aplying every day the Castor Oil.
Wish me luck 🙂
Do you have any recommendations on supplements and food plan?
I’m taking Complex B supplement and brewer’s yeast.
Thank you for all.
Hi Hugh
To answer your question, from my experience, incorporating raw food (e.g. salads and fresh fruits) and fermented food/drinks that contain probiotics (e.g. yogurt, kombucha) in the diet are very supportive of healing. Raw food naturally contain enzymes that can help to speed up healing. Fermented food/drinks build up good bacteria/good yeasts in the gut, which strengthens the immune system and our natural innate healing abilities. Getting enough water and sleep will not hurt too.
I wish you lots of luck 🙂
Sam
Hi. It marks today 1 month of using castor oil at night. Unfortunately there’s no change still. Still the texture changed and indentations caused by the laser all over the scars. But i won’t give up. I’ll try at least the 9 months as Samantha did. I hope i’ll be luck. My scars are bad so if it works, it will work with anyone.
Also i’m eating more fruit and taking spirulina and chlorella powder to get all the vitamins i can.
Wish you all the best luck.
Thanks for coming back with an update, Hugh. I wish you all the best for the next nine months.
Much love,
Sam
Hi Samantha,
This is my update from my last post that was on July 22, 2017. I apologize for the long delay on my post but I have been very busy. I still apply castor oil to the scar on my chest everyday. Sometimes I wrap it up at night and other times, I just rub it into my skin a few times a day. Some days, it looks wonderful and other days its still pretty noticable however it does look a lot better and I just wanted to come back and say thank you again and let you know I still use castor oil daily. It has been about 1 year and 6 months of my full castor oil use and I will continue to use it until my scar is completely unnoticeable. I have noticed some very tiny white lines in the scar when I hold a flashlight to it and it reminds me of yours when it was healing and it gives me much hope. I also see some wrinkles in the scar that almost mimic the surrounding skin. This can only be seen very close up and with a bright light. I hope one day the scar will be completely gone. Anyway, just wanted to write in. Hope all is well with you and everyone on the forum.
Take care.
Hi Tori, no need to apologize, and Thank You for taking the time to give us an update.
Those are some very encouraging signs and I’m truly happy for you.
It’s not easy to be patient, but you seem to have it down. ????
Be well and much love,
Sam
Hi Samantha,
My Son was 5years old (i was sitting on the passenger’s Seat & he was sitting on my lap ) when we met with a Car accident… The Windshield cut his cheek area and he underwent Plastic Surgery….. It’s been 9years now… The big Rough Colored Scar has now changed to smooth (Normal Skin) but with slightly Dark Tone…..
Over these 9 years I tried so many things(Medaderm, onion peelsetc…)….
After reading your blog recently (2 months ago) I started using Castor Oil with Tamanu Oil (along with Essential Oils like Frankincense, elemi, lavender, helichrysum, carrot seed Oils… )
I feel there is a good difference now…
Your blog is like a Big Hope for me that one day I can turn my Son with a face without Scars…..
He had lot of bad embarrassing moments at school due to the scar… I advised him that this will fade away… Your blog has been like a Light of Hope… I am believing that the same positive thing will happen to my son also….
Hi Siva, I’m sorry to hear about your accident, but very glad that you and your boy were not more seriously injured back then.
And the very best of luck with his healing oil treatments — there’s every reason to hope. His young age should also help him as kids can heal faster than adults.
p.s: Thank you for taking the time to comment and your kind words about my blog! They mean a lot 🙂
Much love,
Sam
Hello dear Samantha
Thank you for your great advice and motivation
Hope it works for me too
I had a long cut not deep but some ,becouse of my knife nail of Cat
Wound is healed but on my hand now appeart light line as i want to eraşe it
I started Castor oil since two week
Im hardly keep motivate but hope it workş same time im applye St John Worts oil Olive oil too
If you give me an advice i would be thankful and your idea if that dissapear
Thank you so much
And loving Greetings
Daphne
I hope it works for you. Best of luck, Daphne!
Sam
Hi Samantha and everyone. I returned to give hope to everyone who’s dealing with scars. I haven’t wrote here since August 2018 and all i can say is, continue to apply Castoir Oil. I still have the marks but they have healed about 50% wich is a LOT. And after more than 2 years of the bite/burn (literature says there’s no healing after 2 year mark – wrong) it is still healing. It can only be due to castor oil. There’s no other product (antiscars, specific creams, etc) that i use. I only use an ordinary cream (Nivea) after shaving and put castor oil at night. I’ve been doing it not everyday – perhaps 3-4 times a week. And don’t worry with the brand of castor oil, nor it being black castor oil as i red many times… i buy the most cheap brand of castor oil.
So what i’m saying don’t give up. Don’t go to invasive procedures that promises miracles and you may end worst as i did with laser treatment. Be patient and see the miracle of castor oil.
I’ll be back. If you have any question send me your email and i’ll answer.
Wish you all the best.
Wow, thank you so much for coming back with a review!
I’m sure it’ll help others to know that with some patience, there can be real results and healing. 🙂
Much love and take care,
Sam
Hi Manuel
Did u use the invasive process Samantha used…
I’m trying to heal a 3 year old scar
Applying castor oil at night but I feel it gets wiped off or does it penetrate?
I cant wrap it up coz its an odd spot
Hi Manuel
Did u do a castor oil pack for 3-4 days a week?
Do u apply during the day?
When u started with the castor oil how long did it first take to notice any improvement
I was writing with the name of Hugh. Best luck
Hi Sam!
I have read in the comments that the depression of your scar improved by 95% which is so awesome and motivating to heal. I hve indented scars on my face from acne – do you think they can fill in too with CO or does CO only work for burn scars?
Much love to you!
Kristina
Hi Kristina, I’ve not tried it with acne scars, but I see no reason why castor oil (or other oils) won’t work the same way to fill in indents from acne scars. Damage is damage. Maybe the only consideration is that castor oil is rather thick, so you may feel uncomfortable keeping it on the face for too long or overnight. If that’s the case, then spot applications, diluting castor oil with lighter oils, or using a lighter healing oil altogether (e.g. coconut oil, shea butter, etc) are simple solutions you can try. Like I’ve mentioned before, I think the most important part of this method is patience, and not so much the type of healing oil we choose.
Best of luck, and I hope it works for you 🙂
Much love back,
Sam
Hi Sam!
That’s interesting, that you say it’s not so important which oil I use! Does that mean not the specific ingredients of castor oil are what heals thescar but the moisture in general?
I don’t think I can put the oil on overnight as it would probably stain my pillows, but I tried to put the oil on the scars every 2 hours during the day so that in total my scar is about 12hours completely covered with it. Do you think that is enough for it to have an effect?
Thanks so much for your blog, really encouraging to read about your success!!
Kristina
Hi Kristina
Yes, I think most natural healing oils will work. I believe castor oil is truly remarkable (and not just for scars), but I’ve also seen reviews from others saying that other oils (e.g. shea butter, olive oil, coconut oil) have worked on their scars as well. I myself am using shea butter on another scar now, and while the progress is slow, it’s there just the same.
In my experience, the hardest part is staying with it and being patient because this is not a “quick fix”. But the good thing is once we start seeing small improvements with out own eyes after months of patience, it gets much easier to continue, and eventually the healing is permanent and real.
I think 12 hours should be good enough, especially considering that what moisture that’s been absorbed from your “on” applications will still remain within your scar and cells for some time even after the oil on the surface has been wiped off. Doing 12 hours might even prevent over-moisture or any temporary wrinkling of the scar, which I had with my 24-hour applications.
Be well and best of luck to you!
Sam
Hi Samantha
I’m trying to heal a 3 year old scar.
Will applying co only during day time help
As its in an odd spot
Plus minus how many times do u need to apply it?
Does the oil absorb or do u constantly need to see a wet patch of oil on top
Hi smiles, the oil should be absorbed as you rub it in, and there’s no need to see a wet patch — for proof of this, just touch and you should feel that the skin’s texture is somewhat “moist” after (unlike the surrounding un-oiled skin).
And just apply as often as your life allows you to, and don’t worry about not being able to apply it overnight. Like I’ve mentioned before, patience and persistence are key, and both will be much easier to attain once we find a pace and a method that suits us well and happily. A big reason why I was able to keep up my own applications day in and day out for months is because they did not put undue strain or stress on me. So just find the ways/timings that work for you, and then keep at it.
Best of luck and lots of love,
Sam
Hi, Samantha! Great article! I came across your page after searching for ways to heal a HUGE scar on my face after using a 100% TCA chemical peel. I spot treated every pockmark throughout my entire face. That was March 9, 2020. Now, the majority of my wounds have healed and filled out. They are hypopigmented though. The ones near my mouth (where marionettes are located) have turned hypertrophic and is starting to hypopigment. It’s the size of a quarter! Of all places, it has to be my face. I have Jamaican Black Castor oil on my scars as I type. I saw your pictures, ran upstairs to grab my bottle, and immediately applied the oil… lol. Do you think it will flatten the scar and repigment such a huge area. You’ve mentioned that yours was bone white and is now a natural color. Mine is BONE WHITE with some redness! You can really see it against my tan complexion. I don’t even want to look in the mirror anymore. One more thing, is it okay to exfoliate with a wet wash cloth. Any help will be much appreciated! Thanks! 🙂
Hi Amy, I’m glad to hear that most of your wounds have healed over.
To answer your questions — yes, I think with regular applications and patience, castor oil can flatten hypertrophic scars and repigment them. The redness should lessen as the scars heal.
Gentle exfoliation with a wet washcloth should be okay as long as you take care not to reopen any wounds, and to avoid areas that may feel thinner or extra sensitive from the TCA damage.
As an aside, I’ve noticed that healing usually happens from the “inside out”, so you may only see the visible changes you want (i.e. surface changes) during some of the final stages of healing. Trust that your skin knows how to heal in the best way for you, and remember to be gentle and kind with yourself ????
Much love and best of luck,
Sam
Thank you so much!! I feel better knowing there is a possibility my skin will return to its natural color. I can now calm myself down a little.. haha. Thanks again, Samantha!! You are amazing! ????❤️
hi Sam
Will castor repair the texture of skin as well?
Will it return to normal texture?
Or does remain skiny and thin?
Hi Smiles, yes, from my own experience, the skin’s texture and thickness returned to their original healthy state.
Hope that helps.
Sam
Hi Sam
If my scar is exposed to the sun during the day with castor oil rubbed on , will it cause the scar to darken?
Hi Smiles, I don’t know, but I’ve not heard of castor oil causing scars to darken under the sun. It didn’t have that effect on my scar. But if you’re worried, just keep an eye on it.
Sam
does the scar diminishes completely after using castor oil ?
I believe it can, given enough time.
Sam
Hi Sam,
Is possibile to make a castor oil pack for the nose area (nostril)?
Thanks
Hi John, anything is possible though I have no good suggestions for how to keep it on while sleeping and also ensuring your safety, which is paramount.
In this case, I think it might be better to forgo the idea of using a pack at all, and simply rub the castor oil over your nose or nostrils regularly.
During the day you could keep a small bottle handy to reapply as needed, while at night you could just put it on before going to bed.
A castor oil pack — which would need to be wrapped or secured in some way — isn’t necessary for healing, it’s the oil and persistence that’s the key. A pack is helpful only in some circumstances and in others they may just be complicating matters.
Plus in this case, covering or wrapping the nostrils in some way would likely get physically uncomfortable quickly, making it’s presence impractical or impossible to ignore — and all of that difficulty and discomfort may end up deterring regular castor oil applications instead of encouraging it.
My advice is because the healing could take many months to yield any results, whatever method you choose should ideally be as quick and comfortable as possible so you can keep up with it without grief or fuss.
Best of luck to you and stay safe,
Sam
This may already be in the comments and if so, I apologize ahead of time! I was searching for some real people reviews on the actual miracle of castor oil and ran across this. First, I commend the author for taking time to reply to everyone!!! Awesome! Second, I am a white female, umm, mid-age(haha) and I have several small scars on my face from picking(bad habit) I then broke my hand about a year or so ago which required surgery and left a nasty scar. I have been using co for well over a year for all of these issues plus many other things. It is known to help eyelashes grow! Just take a qtip with some on it and apply to lash lines before you go to sleep! It works. People have used this to make liver detox ‘packs’ but I have not tried this as it seems very messy. I use the oil almost every day now, just outta habit after a shower. I mix a small amount with coconut oil or sometimes tea tree oil and just rub all into face. I apply over any acne or sores, whatever. It helps with redness and healing. I have extremely sensitive skin and it has never done me wrong. It’s also great for hemorrhoids, really dry cracked hands and lips and much more. You really can’t go wrong with it. One thing I noticed when I used much more aggressively was that when I had a BM, it would sometimes be oily as this oil does soak into your body and I guess eventually makes it’s way out! Just a heads up so no one gets alarmed like I did! Lol! Good luck to everyone and thanks for all the real talk.
Thanks for your kind comment jojo 🙂 And I’m sure your personal tips will help many others ????
Be well and stay safe,
Sam
Samantha says:
15 FEBRUARY 2024 AT 3:36 AM
lol truly it’s a friendship based on magical oil 🙂
And apologies, I was so excited to see your comment that I totally forgot to thank you for sharing your experiences and results. So Thank You!!!
I really loved reading it, and I think I’ll never get tired of reading about other people’s experiences in treating their skin damage with it. Btw I’d also gone down a very similar path as you. I’ve tried lactic acid before. And snail cream 🥴 the list is long. All gave me so much hope until I tried them and saw that they did absolutely nothing or caused even more damage. So really a rollercoaster of ups and complete downs. Like you said, memories…. ❤️🩹
p.s: ooh I gave up on the silicone wraps after a while (yes they’re used as stretchy flat lids for bowls etc! haha). I noticed they would get small tears after repeated use, and they were flexible but still a little too thick to be comfortable. And… I got very tired of washing them. Lol. I’ve gone back to the food-safe cling wraps whenever I do a castor oil pack. Still works the best 👍
Hi Sam, I didn’t want to be rude. Skinverse wouldn’t let me reply to our thread lol. I think The Skin-a-verse (universe) is trying to tell us we talk too much haha. I think I wrote back but I can’t find it.
– If i haven’t said I was delighted that you mention me in the blog.
would have never thought to try silicone lids. I did see in the store silicone sheets but They are small and expensive. I thought maybe you found a silicone wrap roll I didn’t know about lol.
I have been using castor oil on my scars from surgery. I really want to use the plastic, but my skin doesn’t like it so I am just using castor oil.
Hi Dollfaceluna!
Don’t worry, I wouldn’t think you rude at all. I guess there’s a limit to threaded comments.
“The Skin-a-verse (universe)” omg i love that!! 💕
I wish you rapid healing on your surgical scars. I use castor oil without a pack or any wrapping too quite a lot. Sometimes it’s easier and it works just as well.
p.s: Yes the silicone sheets were a little expensive. I can’t tell you how much I’ve wasted over the years with purchases I regretted. Live and learn, I guess 🤡
Hey Samantha I have atrophic scars on my face. Can Castor oil heal those completly?
And my second question, I put Apple cider vinegar on those scars and it made it even worse. Can Castor oil reverse this second further damage?
Oh and I wanted to try a TCA peel by a dermatologist additionally. Is that OK?
Hi Kevin,
Yes, I believe castor oil can reverse the damage slowly over time, including from using ACV. You can further support this bottom-up healing by eating an anti-inflammatory diet and cutting out sugar etc.
I would advise you to not go for a TCA peel, though I understand the allure of a possible quick fix very much. I have been where you are so I truly understand.
I’ve tried TCA peels in the past, which I sorely regret. In my experience, at best, the peel was too weak to do anything, and at worst, it was so strong that it caused deep damage.
It’s certainly possible that you’ll have a different experience with a TCA peel, but given that you’ve already had some damage from ACV (also an acid like TCA), it just doesn’t seem wise to me.
Wishing you all the best,
Sam
Thank you. Thats exactly what I had in my mind. I was always okay with my atrophic scars. They were not that bad but after Apple cider vinegar it got so bad that I panicked because now you can see them very clearly. So as a consequence I panicked and thats why I rush to do a tca peel.
But I had in my mind maybe it will get worse so thank you I will stick to castor oil
You’re very welcome, and good luck!
Sam