General informationWhen human skin is damaged by surgery, accident or burns, scars are liable to form. Scars can protrude (hypertrophic scarring), or can gradually expand beyond the boundary of the tissue originally damaged (keloid scarring). Undue scarring can be unsightly, particularly if one has dark or very pale gingery skin. Scars are more likely to form in some areas of the body than others, with the shoulders and sternum being very common scar sites.
One of the factors that influence scar formation is the orientation of the wound relative to the lines of tension in the skin. These lines are easily seen in the face when the facial muscles are contracted. In addition, a cut made by a sharp knife will result in a 'neater' scar than, for example, a tear caused by a jagged object. If when closed the wound is under strain, a wide scar is likely to result. Because children and young people have tauter skin than older people, they are more apt to scar.
Scar correction involves intervention aimed at improving the shape of the scar. However, it is not possible to guarantee the ultimate outcome of scar correction, even where the utmost care and professionalism are used. It is important to recognise that, following scar correction work, a scar can remain prominent, red, itchy and sometimes even painful for quite some time. A 'fresh' scar will not normally stabilise for a year or eighteen months. Some scars can end up being wider than had been expected.
Prominent scars can also be treated by non-surgical methods, such as corticosteroid injections, compression therapy, silicon film application or irradiation. The latter forms of treatment can reduce the problems associated with prominent scarring, but cannot influence the width of the scar.
It should be emphasised that scar correction work can make a scar less noticeable, but cannot remove it altogether.
ProcedureMost scars can be surgically corrected under local anaesthetic. The resulting surgical wounds are sometimes closed using dissolvable stitches and sometimes using non-dissolvable stitches. After treatment, the scar will have to be covered with a special plaster, which should be left in place for as long as possible.
OutcomeIf you are considering having an unsightly scar corrected, it is important to bear in mind that a new surgical scar will typically take a year to eighteen months to stabilise. And, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that the new scar will be less unsightly or less obvious than the old one.
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Plastic surgery
