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Burns, wounds, accidents, operations, and infections leave some scars on a person’s body. If they happen to be in the exposed part of his body then it becomes an embarrassment and a disfigurement. The person would surely like to get rid of such scars. Some are reddish, some are blackish, and some are thick, puckered, wrinkled or blotchy. Some fade away as time passes, others remain the same or get worse. Some ointments may lighten some scars and sometimes steroid injections lessen them but if all these methods fail then scar revision through reconstructive surgery seems to be the only option.
Surgeons normally ask the patient to wait for at least a year before going in for scar revision. This is the term given to surgical techniques, which are used to change the appearance of scar tissue, trying to blend them with the surrounding area. One has to remember that scar revision does not completely erase the scar; it only makes it less conspicuous and less noticeable. Scar revision generally takes two or three hours and is done on an outpatient basis under local anesthesia. After the area is anesthetized, the surgeon will cut the scar tissues and reconstruct the area. Then the scar is closed with small stitches and dressing is applied. Keloid scars are thick, dark red, puckered ones, which grow beyond the boundaries of the previous wound operation area. This scar can be cut as it is made of hard fibrous collagen and then the skin is stitched together. The surgeon has to monitor the recovery to see that the keloid does not recur.
Hypertopic scars look like keloids but they remain within the incision boundary though they too are thick and dark red in color. The method of surgery used for this scar revision is similar, the excess tissue is removed and the original scar incision line is repositioned. Burns or other injuries result in the skin tightening up and pulling the nearby skin areas, resulting in difficult movements and restricting muscle movement. If this occurs near a joint, then the movement becomes very painful. Scar revision in this case is done by replacing the scar tissue with a skin graft.
Facial scars cause the biggest problem as they disfigure the face making the person conscious and embarrassed in public. An experienced surgeon can lessen the scar, reposition it to match with natural facial contours with a technique called the Z=plasty. This involves the cutting of the scar tissue and then cutting the skin to create triangular flaps. The flaps are then laid across the scar area resulting in a Z like figure. These flaps are then sewn over the area reducing the visual impact of the scar. After these operations, the patient recovers quite fast, within a minimum of three days or a maximum of two weeks. Scar revision can be done anywhere in the body but most people go in for surgery only if the scars are in the exposed parts of the body and are visible to the public eye. |
