Post surgical scars

Though surgical procedures are performed in a manner to minimize or prevent scars, they are however inevitable. Post surgical scars, such as caesarian section, orthopedic surgery, abdominal surgery, etc, can appear as faint marks, hypertrophic (elevated), keloid (elevated and cord like thickness) or atrophic scars.

Chicken pox scars

Most often chicken pox scars are atrophic and fibrotic in nature. They can be multiple or simply isolated. They tend to appear well defined and deep. The initial step to treat chicken pox scars is reduce underlying fibrous adhesions and later to either perform a dermal filler or stimulate new collagen growth with IPL or Non Ablative Laser Rejuvenation.

Post trauma scars

Post trauma scars ( example, motor vehicle accidents) most often appears as faint marks, keloids or elevated scars. Since the edges of a trauma is jagged and not smooth as a surgical incision, the end result might be compromised slightly.

Treatment options for scars include:

Subcision

Subcision is a common procedure to treat fibrotic scars. The base of the fibrotic scar (at the dermal layer) is normally anchored by fibrous bands. Subcision releases this fibrous band and reduces the depth of the fibrotic scar.

Dermal Fillers

Dermal fillers can be than injected into the scar area to reduce them. Depending on the depth of the scar, dermal fillers of different molecular weight are selected as implants. These fillers are injected beneath the scar using tiny needles. The fillers work by plumping up the injected site and reduce the depth of the scars. In some people the results can last easily over a year or even longer.

Non Ablative Laser Rejuvenation (NALR) treatment

The NALR treatment distributes laser energy as heat beneath the skin's layers without affecting the outer layers of the skin (the epidermis). The heat energy exfoliates dead cells and stimulate new cell growth which reduces scars and restores skin integrity.

Intense Pulse Light (IPL) treatment

The IPL treatment distributes light energy as heat beneath the skin's layers. It can also be used to treat hypertrophic scars, marks and keloid.

Microdermabrasion (MDA)

MDA involves abrasion of the skin using a continuous flow of crystal. This stimulates new cell growth, reduces scar and restores skin integrity.

Corticosteroid injections

Keloid and hypertrophic scars can be minimized with a series of low doses of Corticosteroid injections directly into the scar tissue.

An image of post surgical scar on the forearm, treated with  Intense Pulse Light (IPL) and Microdermabrasion.