Scar Treatment
Scars accompany us throughout life. Hypertrophic scars, keloids, acne scars, burn or surgical scars are very different types of scars – and just as different are the treatment methods, involving lasers, hyaluronic acid fillers, surgical techniques, and silicone gels.
On the face, the forearms, or even in more hidden places, scars can bother and torment – even cause such psychological distress that those affected withdraw out of embarrassment. Some scars are thick, red, and inflamed – the raised, bulging scars (hypertrophic scars) or the proliferating keloids – while others are sunken, like acne scars or scars from deep cuts.
Sunken scars occur in severe forms of acne. To prevent them in time, effective acne therapy should be given – in severe cases with isotretinoin or an oral antibiotic. Once scars are there, medicine helps the slow metabolism of scar tissue along with the right method – depending on the scar type, with one or several procedures in combination:
- Sunken scars: They cast dark shadows and make the skin look uneven. Fractional CO2 laser therapy (e.g., Fraxel® Dual) stimulates the formation of firming collagen. Adhesions can be released surgically, and hollows filled with hyaluronic acid – with immediately visible smoothing. After 3–5 sessions, the complexion improves significantly over several months.
- Scar bumps, thickened scars: Using a surgical erbium laser and surgical instruments, they are ground down to skin level under local anesthesia.
- Red scars: Many thick blood vessels run through the tissue; they can be sealed with the pulsed dye laser. If the scar is also thickened, triamcinolone acetonide (an anti-inflammatory cortisone crystal suspension) is injected. Redness and thickening usually recede substantially within three sessions.
- Thickened scars: Injections of triamcinolone acetonide or the application of liquid nitrogen in the contact method (-196 °C) shrink the scar and flatten it noticeably.
- Unattractive scars after surgery: Scar formation is generally complete only after a year. If unfavorable healing threatens, silicone scar gel or silicone patches achieve very good effects. In extremely rare cases, with a tendency to keloids, soft-tissue radiation directly after surgery may be considered.
- Line-shaped scars: Even “normally” healed scars can often still be improved visually – with the fractional CO2 laser, the surgical erbium laser, or the IntraCel radiofrequency microneedling technique, which remove tissue point by point and stimulate tissue renewal.
- Discolored scars: A special bleaching cream lightens brown discoloration within several weeks; ruby laser and IPL also have a lightening effect. Red discoloration responds well to the pulsed dye laser, KTP laser, or lpNd:YAG laser.
- Adhesions: Scar strands pulling into the depths can restrict mobility and cause abdominal pain. Occasionally they can only be removed surgically; triamcinolone acetonide and massage techniques such as cross-friction also bring relief.
Come in for a consultation – we will find the right solution for your scar.