Listen... the truth is, "band-aids" only protect wounds, they don't actually heal them.
Think about it...
The first step to recovery is discovery.
Hiding your wounds from plain sight can create dysfunction. It leaves you vulnerable and sensitive to things and people that may cause you pain unintentionally, touching sensitive areas that you cover and protect, but didn't let heal.
Dwelling on what caused the affliction has little to do with the healing process and takes away the attention needed to properly care for it. Lack of proper care can cause infection. Now you've got bigger problems.
Picking at scab reopens old wounds. You'll be suffering pain from something that happened a long time ago, prolonging the healing process.
Access the damage, properly care for it, and give yourself time to allow the process of healing to take place, away from what inflicted the wound.
I'm not talking about cuts and scrapes! Life has it's moments where things (words, situations, actions of others etc.) cut us deep. They may as well be a knife in the heart or back leaving our flesh wide open.
Those things need to fully heal as well. If you still react with anger and sadness as if it were the day it happened, it's still an open wound that you may be protecting, creating dysfunction around the old wound.
If you can talk about it but still get a little sensitive and defensive, it's a scab and you're still vulnerable to pain and discomfort, keep healing and taking care. You may need to assess what's causing the pain and remove it or yourself.
When you are able to address and access without any of the aforementioned, then you'll know you're fully healed. The scar is visible, but the pain associated with it is gone.