From time to time, we get requests for scar revisions. These largely fall into 2 categories- those who have post-traumatic and post-surgical scars and those who had severe acne in their early adult life.
The best way to improve scars is not to allow them to form in the first place. For our acne patients, this includes the use of cosmeceuticals and in more severe cases, low dose oral isotretinoin.
For post-traumatic and post-surgical scars, an accurate assessment and treatment of the skin defect with good suturing reduces the need for scar revisions.
If the scars have already occurred, we can offer many options to the patient to improve these scars. For our patients with pitted and narrow-based post acne scarring, we will offer a course of laser therapy. This involves the SmartXide pulsed CO2 laser and the Fotona Starwalker picosecond NdYAG laser.
For patients with broad based post-acne scarring, subcision can be used with good result. This is procedure done to release scarring under the skin. It is done under topical anaesthesia in the clinic. In the right scar, the results can be dramatic especially when tissue filler is used as an adjunct.
For post-traumatic and post-surgical scars that are keloidal or not aligned, we often offer a surgical scar revision to get the best results. It is important in the patients with keloids to check for a genetic pre-disposition to keloids and to avoid areas where there is a high risk of recurrent keloid formation like the midline of the chest.
