It is inevitable that people will be injured throughout their lives. However, after a trauma, unless it is particularly minor, it is inevitable that scars will be left behind. Therefore, people are particularly concerned about how to make scars grow lighter after trauma. Here I will talk about the latest technology on how to reduce the growth of scars after trauma and reduce the disability rate of scars and their impact on appearance.
Traditional Scar Treatment Philosophy According to the traditional viewpoint, the first step after trauma is to go to the nearest doctor for surgical debridement and treatment. Patients with burns should be treated in the burn unit. Timely and proper surgical treatment can promote the wound to heal as soon as possible, which will also reduce the probability of scar growth. Topical or oral anti-scar medications are needed after the incision heals, combined with compression with elastic bandages if necessary. Wait 3-6 months for the scar to stabilize and then depending on the situation, if the recovery is not good, plastic repair treatment is needed.
Comprehensive prevention and treatment of scars at an early stage to reduce the difficulty of scar treatment With the advancement of technology, the newly introduced dye laser and minimally invasive plasma technology can intervene in the area where signs of scar growth appear at an early stage after injury, thus the degree of scar growth can be reduced and surgical repair at a later stage can be avoided. About 1 month after injury, the incision begins to appear red, hard, and in some patients, the scar may be raised and painful, in which case it is time to consider starting dye laser or/and plasma treatment. The dye laser causes the redness of the scar to diminish or disappear by embolizing the capillaries. With the blood vessels embolized, the scar loses its nutrient supply from the blood and the momentum of proliferation is reduced. In contrast, plasma technology, which is specifically designed for scarring, alters the collagen arrangement of the scar (collagen is the building block of scars) and peels away the thickened scar, resulting in a softer and flatter scar. With the dye laser and advanced plasma technology, it is possible to reduce the degree of scar growth and improve the appearance of the scar, saving some patients from having to undergo another surgery. Don’t forget that both the dye laser and plasma are a minimally invasive scar revision technique – no bleeding, no bandaging, and very low risk.
After years of dedicated research and extensive clinical practice and incorporating these emerging new technologies, I and our scar team have developed the idea of early comprehensive scar prevention and treatment, that is, comprehensive intervention to treat emerging scars at an early stage of scar formation after injury. In addition to the aforementioned dye laser and plasma techniques and traditional compression therapy, topical, oral and intra-scar injections are also used. Of course, each injury is very different and each person’s body type is very different, so we will develop a personalized plan for each individual. It is my goal and the goal of our scar team to achieve the best results for each individual, and to explore new means of scar prevention and treatment, so that we can look forward to the day when we can overcome the medical problem of scarring.