Hi! What do we know about treating blaster-bolt wounds? Do they more or less self-cauterize like lightsaber wounds theoretically would?

Sorry about the wait! Basically, blaster bolts may or may not cauterize the wound they make. There will certainly be burning, but they can still bleed. Due to the physics of a blaster bolt, blunt force injuries can also occur. (I discuss this in a bit more detail here and here). Most often, however, the wound is largely cauterized by the heat of the bolt. As a result, they are very difficult to treat without the regenerative properties of bacta, and thus the default treatment is application of a bacta bandage or, if the injury is serious enough, submersion in a bacta tank. The bandages must be changed regularly, and the patient may need surgery if the bolt has hit and burnt any organs, but if they can survive long enough to get treatment they often make a full recovery.

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

What are the functional differences between bacta and kolto?

It’s never really explained how kolto works, unfortunately, so there’s no way to compare the specific mechanisms. The big functional difference we know of is that bacta works better than kolto (though it may have been the opposite at some time in galactic history), and that’s about it. Sorry!

~ Jacen

So, bacta prevents the formation of scar tissue – but can it heal existing scars?

I don’t believe it’s explicitly said whether bacta can be used to heal scars. However because wounds healed with bacta can still scar, and because getting treatment faster increases the chance of full recovery and reduces the chance of scarring (implying that the bacta can only effectively heal that tissue which had not already scarred), I would say that bacta probably can’t heal existing scars.

~ Jacen

Hey so uh, is there anywhere else in the galaxy besides thyferra that makes/produces bacta? Or is that the only place?

This is actually something that can be unclear within the EU. Much of the time, Thyferra is referred to as the main source of bacta in the galaxy, or it is said that almost all bacta comes from Thyferra. It is possible that it can be produced on another world, but it would be too expensive, and probably low quality, to buy from anywhere else. No other world is specifically named, either. Thyferra is definitely the only world that has an abundance of the materials needed. You probably wouldn’t ever come across bacta produced anywhere but Thyferra, if such a thing does exist.

Do let me know if you need more information about bacta, its one of my favourite things to talk about. Good luck!

~ Jacen

rswtotd:

Bacta was a synthetic chemical substance that consisted of gelatinous, translucent red alazhi and kavam bacterial particles that were mixed within a colorless, viscous fluid known as ambori. When a patient was exposed to bacta, the bacterial particles within sought out wounds and promoted rapid tissue regeneration while preventing the emergence of scar tissue. Bacta was often thought of as a “miracle fluid”, and seemed to be effective against almost every type of injury and ailment across an incredible cross-section of species throughout the galaxy. It was considered to be the best medicine available anywhere, replacing the previously-used kolto.