Glossary entry

French term or phrase:

tanner la cicatrice

English translation:

reinforce the healing process

Added to glossary by Kate Alex
Aug 7, 2007 14:24
17 yrs ago
3 viewers *
French term

tanner

French to English Medical Medical (general) report on injury sustained in road traffic accident
recommended treatment: pansements tous les deux jours pour tanner la cicatrice -

Dressings every other day to .... the scarring/scar

Does anyone know the translation of the word "tanner" in this context?

TIA
Proposed translations (English)
1 +3 franglais?
4 +1 consolider la cicatrice

Discussion

Dr Sue Levy (X) Aug 13, 2007:
Kate, the "cicatrice" is the wound or scar not the "healing process".

Proposed translations

+3
39 mins
Selected

franglais?

Now I'm not a doctor, but I might have thought dressings might require changing more frequently than every other day (at times).

Just wondering if this means that the injury is to be dressed (i.e. covered) only every other day, being left in the open, to catch the sun and tan on intervening days.



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Note added at 39 mins (2007-08-07 15:04:26 GMT)
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Is the scar on a visible part of the body, esp. the face?

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-08-07 15:25:23 GMT)
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I guess, as guesses go, that's ... well, it was a guess. I agree the conventional wisdom is that healing wounds should be kept out of the sun, but doctors have told us a lot of nonsense in the past and are coming up with new nonsense every day!

However, maybe it's not "tan" is in "go a lovely golden colour" but as in "turn into leather":
tanner - faire subir aux peaux des animaux une préparation destinée à les rendre imputrescibles à l'état humide et à leur conserver à l'état sec toute la soupless désirable
[Larousse Lexis]
I think we are all agreed that having skin that does not rot when it gets wet is a desirable feature (even if it's not that dramatic when it happens between your toes), as is having flexible skin. Now scars are not always flexible ...

Note too that in one of the examples below, "tanner" amounts to drying and solidifying the skin (cf. the good doctor's "consolider").

nettoyer au sérum physiologique puis TANNER la plaie sans déborder avec éosine pour assécher et solidifier la peau, laisser à l’air ou recouvrir avec chaussette tubulaire
http://www.apci35.org/documents/guides/guide_de_bonne_pratiq...

En cas d'ulcère artérielle devant être revascularisée qui présente une plaque de nécrose sèche, est-ce que je peux mettre de la bétadine pour assécher et TANNER la plaie? Car ce que je veux c'est protéger et isoler en attendant la revascularisation (si cela est possible!) ...
Effectivement dans ce cas, on peut utiliser la Bétadine dans le but de déssécher, mais l'inconvénient est qu'elle colore la peau, et que c'est plus difficile de juger l'état des tissus autour de la lésion ...
La béta colore certe la plaie mais est soluble à l'eau. Pas de problème de surveillance donc.
On est ici dans un contexte pré-op, traitement de la plaie assimilable à une plaie aigue.
Je trouve indiqué de TANNER, désinfecter avec de la béta + pst sec
http://www.sffpc.org/index.php?pg=forum&pags=12&action=fil&i...


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Note added at 1 hr (2007-08-07 15:35:39 GMT)
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Further to my agreement with the Good Doctor, I see the following in Lépine :
cicatrice par première intention - HEALING by first intention
cicatrice par seconde intention - HEALING by second intention

Maybe one could say "to strengthen/consolidate healing" or "the healing process".


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Note added at 1 hr (2007-08-07 15:42:00 GMT)
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More evidence that "cicatrice/cicatriser" in French is "healing" as much as "scarring":

cicatriser - 1. Cicatriser une plaie = favoriser la formation d'un cicatrice, hâter la FERMETURE d'une plaie : L'exposition à l'air et au soleil cicatrise la blessure

cicatrisation - Ensemble des processus grâce auxquels s'opère la REPARATION des plaies et des lésions tissulaires
[Larousse Lexis]

So potentially a wound can "se cicatriser" without leaving a "cicatrice".

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-08-07 15:43:59 GMT)
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One last go and then I'll stop:

strengthen the new skin tissue
Peer comment(s):

agree Silvia Brandon-Pérez : Without more, I might agree with you, but I thought you are supposed to stay out of the sun when healing scars?
5 mins
Agreed!
agree La Classe
29 mins
agree Chantal Thomas (X)
3 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "REally interesting train of thought. Thanks for your help."
+1
11 mins

consolider la cicatrice

consolider la cicatrice

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-08-07 15:26:56 GMT)
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Sorry, didn't see, try 'consolidate the scar'
Peer comment(s):

neutral Mark Nathan : She wants the translation into English
25 mins
agree Bourth (X) : Looks like it to me/ maybe "consolidate/strengthen the SKIN" (as it forms scar tissue). One surely doesn't want a strong "scar", but strong skin (with the least scarring possible). Maybe medical people have a different attitude towards scars though ...
52 mins
Something went wrong...
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