What are they?
The scars are the result of a tissue repair following a cutaneous trauma, such as a wound, a surgical operation, a disease or a skin condition such as acne. The scars usually fade over time, but they never completely disappear.
Hypertrophic scars and keloid scar are the body’s response to external aggression, such as a surgery, a burn or an inflammatory process of acne. The collagen fibers of the dermis are arranged in a disordered fashion, producing a poor quality tissue, which is characterized by to have volume and usually being annoying.
The hypertrophic scar has an excessive volume over that necessary to repair the tissue, but doesn’t exceed the limits of the wound. The keloid, on the contrary, exceeds the limits of this and often produces discomfort (pain, itching).
Treatment
What does it consist of?
There are few treatments that demonstrate safety and effectiveness in the improvement process of the scars; among them are silicone dressings, the application of liquid nitrogen or cryotherapy, local infiltrations with corticosteroids and laser therapy.
Regarding the use of the laser (fractionated ablative and fractionated non-ablative), applying heat in a controlled way allows to reach the deeper layers of the skin, causing the dermal collagen to be ordered and its appearance improves. Its main advantage over other treatments is that they don’t erode the skin or require a recovery process.
With the ablative fractionated laser, the thickness and hardness of the scar can be reduced and the redness of the same can be reduced with the non-ablative laser.
The efficacy and efficiency of the ablative laser is greater than that of the non-ablative laser but causes small scabs.
It’s painful?
A local topical anesthesia is applied prior to the use of the laser to avoid causing discomfort during the treatment.
How many sessions are needed?
In general, will be necessary between six and eight sessions and should be done with a period of time of a month between each session.
Pre – treatment advice
- Adequate hygiene
- The sun should be avoided before and after treatments until the final result is achieved.
Post – Treatment Tips
- Use sunscreen
- Use a repair cream the first few days after the laser.