Contrakel

Contrakel is a German scar-care brand built around a single product, Contrakel Narbencreme, a cream intended for the care of scars left by surgery, burns, frostbite and acne. The brand is operated by MEDICIS Health GmbH, a company based in Munich, and it is sold through pharmacies rather than beauty retail [3].

What sets the brand apart from many scar gels is its emphasis on massage. Contrakel presents its cream less as a treatment in its own right than as a way to make daily massage of scar tissue comfortable, and it describes this as acting on scars "on three levels". A product leaflet published by a pharmacy retailer classifies the cream as a medical device [9].

The brand's website names MEDICIS Health GmbH as its operator and copyright holder. Its legal notice gives the company's address on Nymphenburger Strasse in Munich, its entry in the Munich commercial register, and PD Dr. med. Dr. med. habil Kai Deusch as its authorised representative [3]. No public source identifies who founded Contrakel, and the year the brand was launched is not documented.

Sources differ on who makes the product. The brand's own site points to MEDICIS Health GmbH, while the German online pharmacy DocMorris lists IMstam healthcare GmbH as the manufacturer [7]. Contrakel itself describes IMstam healthcare, a company based in Angermünde, as its distribution partner for pharmacies and directs pharmacists who want to stock the product to contact IMstam [4]. A Bangladeshi online pharmacy, ePharma, names Medicis Health GmbH as the manufacturer [8]. Which company produces the cream under contract is not publicly stated.

The website itself credits the agency UNIBRAND GmbH with its concept, design and realisation.

Contrakel's starting point is a modest claim about what creams can do. On its German homepage, the brand states that gels or creams alone can neither passively reduce scars nor make them disappear [1]. Its argument instead rests on massage: according to the company, newer findings show that daily massage combined with a scar cream or gel plays an essential role in reducing scars.

The difficulty, as Contrakel frames it, is that scar tissue is often tight and itchy, and rubbing it without a suitable base can pull on the skin. The cream is meant to solve that practical problem. The company says it is easy to spread, softens the tissue, and lets the user massage the scar gently without tugging at it.

From there the brand builds what it calls a "triple" approach. It contrasts this directly with typical scar gels, which it says work on only one level: keeping moisture in the scar tissue [1]. Contrakel's three levels are massage, a moisture-retaining film, and support for skin renewal. The English version of the site describes the cream as "a novel approach addressing scar reduction" [2]. These are the company's own descriptions; no independent clinical studies of the product are documented.

The brand positions the cream for several kinds of scars: hypertrophic scars (raised scars that stay within the original wound), atrophic scars (sunken scars, such as some acne marks) and keloids (scars that grow beyond the edges of the original injury). It also says the cream can be used on both fresh and older scars, on large burn scars, and on sensitive skin.

### Contrakel Narbencreme

The core product is a 30 ml scar cream. The brand links each of its three "levels" to particular ingredients:

- Massage. Cholesterol and olive oil are added, the company says, to soften scar tissue so that it can be massaged without pulling. According to Contrakel, the massage also increases blood flow and helps limit the formation of scar tissue. - Film effect. The cream is described as forming a dense film on the skin that keeps its natural level of hydration. - Skin renewal. Allantoin is said to stimulate skin renewal and ease the itching that often comes with scarring. Urea is included to support the skin's moisture content, and vitamin A, according to the brand, supports the function of skin cells and prevents excessive thickening of the outer skin layer.

Among the benefits the company lists are relief from itching and a feeling of tightness, and scars that become smoother and less noticeable. The pharmacy leaflet adds that the cream does not tighten the skin, does not dry it out and leaves no residue, which it gives as the reason the product suits burn scars.

The full ingredient list, as printed in that leaflet, is based on water and olive oil, with liquid paraffin and petrolatum among the main components. It also includes glyceryl stearate, propylene glycol, urea, cholesterol, allantoin, the preservative phenoxyethanol and vitamin A palmitate [9].

### Directions for use

The two published sets of directions differ in frequency. The brand's website advises applying the cream only to closed skin, never to open wounds, and massaging it in gently for five to ten minutes. It recommends repeating this at least two to three times a day for roughly six to twelve months, depending on the scar [2]. The leaflet hosted by the Swiss pharmacy Redcare instead advises applying and massaging the cream twice daily, and notes that it may be used for longer periods depending on the size and condition of the scar [9]. The website also recommends cooling a surgical wound immediately after an operation, which it says makes the wound smaller and its edges less raised.

### Other products

Contrakel's buy page links to a pharmacy listing for a variant named "Contrakel Narbencreme mit Kelosun Sonnenschutz", which pairs the scar cream with sun protection [5]. The brand's distribution page also refers to "CONTRAKEL extra" products for pharmacies, but does not name them. No other products are documented.

Contrakel is active. The brand's bilingual website, in German and English, remains online, and the scar cream was listed for sale at DocMorris in October 2026 [7]. The site's buy page sends customers to local pharmacies and links to seven online pharmacies in Germany, which is the only sales channel the brand itself presents.

The cream has also appeared at an online pharmacy in Bangladesh, where it was listed as out of stock in October 2026. No social media accounts, press coverage, awards or recent product launches are documented for the brand.