I. Overview of common treatment methods for scars
Generally speaking, the common treatment methods for scars are mainly, medication, minimally invasive (radiofrequency, laser) treatment and scar plastic surgery. Of course, there were still microdermabrasion more than ten years ago, but since the emergence of scar treatment laser, microdermabrasion has been basically replaced by laser, the effect of laser is better than microdermabrasion, and the side effects are less than microdermabrasion, now almost few people use microdermabrasion anymore. There is also a special treatment method called scar compression bandage, which is generally used to apply compression bandage to the scar with elastic bandage, and this is mainly used to treat early hyperplastic burn scars with medication.
Second, the general treatment principle of scars
The general treatment principle is that fresh scars within six months can be treated with topical medication (not that the medication must have a good effect, those are self-aggrandizing, but because the medication is only effective for scars within six months, more than six months the effect is worse, more than a year, I think it is better not to waste money on medication, and the medication is mainly for early, red, or slightly raised The effect is better for the early, red, or slightly raised, white, flat, the effect is poor, depressed basic useless). If the economy allows, you can properly cooperate with fractional radio frequency or fractional laser (but the laser is special, early scars can only use non-ablative fractional laser, not ablative fractional laser, pay attention to the difference between the lasers used) treatment, red can also cooperate with long wavelength color light treatment. There with these treatments, of course, the effect is better than just using drugs, but these days, the hospital is not free, to cooperate with these treatments, it will cost more money, so I just say their own economic conditions, of course, but also the hospital has these complex equipment and master the operation of the technology, can be appropriate with these treatments.
The longer the scar, the worse the effect of simple medication, more than a year, the basic effect of simple medication. The traditional treatment for old scars is scar surgery, but now the new technology is to use new minimally invasive treatments such as fractional radio frequency and fractional laser. Of course, although surgery is traditional and ancient, it does not mean that it is completely unnecessary, and although radio frequency and laser are new high technology, it does not mean that it is a cure for all diseases. In fact, the two still cooperate with each other, complementing each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and each has its own advantages and uses. Different scars, different conditions, targeted to choose the right treatment, there is no best, only relatively suitable. In general, for small, single scars, surgery is definitely the easiest. For medium-sized scars, or scars within three or five scars, laser or surgery, it depends on the actual situation and specific analysis. For super large scars, surgery is not a good idea, so laser is better. Of course, there are many combined surgical and laser treatments, such as simple surgical excision first, and then continue laser treatment, etc. In short, everything is free to choose according to the condition, there is no absolute. But no matter how to treat, generally can only improve, not as good as advertised, how good the effect can be varies from person to person, it is difficult to say with certainty how good it can be, the better to say, the more is the advertisement.
Of course there are some special scars, such as acne pits, acne scars, etc.: you can click on the reference → (acne pits, enlarged pores and their treatment) article has a detailed introduction.
Stretch marks, atrophy lines, fracture lines, obesity lines, etc.: You can click reference → (stretch marks, atrophy lines, fracture lines, obesity lines) article has a detailed introduction.
Third, the drug treatment of scars
There are generally two different cases of medication, minor trauma, such as some minor scratches, abrasions, etc. If it is mainly pigmentation, there is no obvious scar, with the treatment of pigmentation drugs may be more targeted, or just more red, with drugs to promote repair. Do not think that there must be trauma is a scar, must be used scar medicine, the wrong drug, but also may be counterproductive. If it is indeed a predominantly bumpy scar, only then is it a good idea to use medication for scars. I have used a lot of drugs to treat scars, I have used Goldbark, Banoxin, new skin, Shu trace, Barker, Conrad, Mepiquette, scar enemy, scar itch softening ointment, Fuyuan cumene cream, etc., these drugs you see the manual, are said to be very good, but I actually use the situation seems to be similar, expensive hundreds of a, and cheap more than a hundred a, for general scars, there may be some slight However, the difference in effect and the difference in price are not very proportional, but more of a psychological difference. Therefore, I personally am more accustomed to recommending patients to use domestic drugs, but of course, if you really have money and want to use expensive imported drugs, it is also possible. However, for the more red, or already hyperplastic scars or scars, silicone preparations such as Banoxin, the new skin effect will be better. Of course, drugs change quickly, these are only the drugs I have used now, there is no other better drugs, we will know later.
This is why sometimes patients often ask, “How do I feel the effect of the medicine prescribed by a certain doctor is not obvious, because your In fact, this is the most practical effect of the medication, just that this effect is not the one you expect in your heart. The actual effect of the scars is actually to prevent the scars from growing, and the real direct improvement of the scars is some, but it varies from person to person. But how to say this drug, you do not use drugs, you do not feel at ease, the doctor is not at ease, so it is generally recommended to use drugs, because no one is sure you will not proliferate, and if the proliferation, it is more difficult to cure. Now that we are living in good conditions, you can rest assured that you are using some medicine, and the doctor is also rest assured that everyone is at ease, although it may not always have a good effect, but some of the effects are still there, so they all use medicine.
Fourth, the minimally invasive treatment of scars
Minimally invasive treatment mainly refers to the newly emerged fractional laser that specializes in scar treatment in these years, the so-called fractional, which is the meaning of minimally invasive, not called laser are treating scars, only fractional laser is used to treat scars. There are also some early individual manufacturers, not called fractional called pixel, but now there are few so called, but anyway, it is the same thing. Of course, now there is a newer fractional RF, the principle is similar to fractional laser, but with RF waves instead of laser waves, the penetration is deeper than laser waves, and the effect is better for serious scars, or often with laser treatment. In short, radiofrequency and laser are both minimally invasive new treatment methods. Laser can be used to treat scars, but when you use it, you must pay attention to the choice of laser. If you want to treat scars within six months in the early stage, you can only use non-ablative fractional laser, but not ablative laser. Peeling laser should be used for at least six months, and premature treatment with peeling laser may stimulate and aggravate the scars. Fractional RF, on the other hand, can be used for scars at any period because it is between exfoliative and non-exfoliative.
So what are non-exfoliating and exfoliating lasers? Non-ablative and ablative lasers are mainly different in the wavelengths used by the laser. 1320, 1440 or 1540nm wavelengths are milder and only have the effect of softening the scars without the effect of vaporizing and peeling the scar surface tissue, and are called non-ablative fractional lasers. These lasers have no direct damage to the skin and play the role of promoting wound healing, so in the early stage of scarring, non-ablative fractional lasers can be used. And with er laser’s 2940nm, co2 laser’s 10600nm these wavelengths have the effect of directly vaporizing and peeling the superficial scars, it is called exfoliative laser. When early scars are not yet stable, or when scars are growing, direct treatment with exfoliative laser may stimulate and aggravate the scars. However, for old scars, the wound has already healed and stabilized, and all the scars that should grow have grown, so instead, we need to rely on ablative fractional laser to directly vaporize and exfoliate the surface of the scars first, and then combine with non-ablative fractional laser or fractional radio frequency for deep collagen remodeling. Therefore, the exfoliative fractional laser is generally used primarily in conjunction with the non-ablative fractional laser or fractional RF to treat old scars. In comparison, the penetrating power of fractional RF is deeper and more powerful than that of non-ablative fractional laser, so in the early days, before fractional RF came out, it has been used to treat old scars with the combination of ablative and non-ablative laser, but now, with the further development of technology, those who have the conditions, can switch to using ablative fractional laser with fractional RF for better results.
Compared with the traditional invasive surgical treatment, the new minimally invasive techniques do not require hospitalization, no incision, and can be treated as you go. Therefore, with the development of technology, minimally invasive treatment for scars is showing more and more vitality, and more and more hospitals are starting to join them, and more and more patients are more and more willing to accept these simple and effective minimally invasive treatments. With the continuous development of technology, more and more new techniques and inventions will be added to the treatment of scars in the future.
V. Surgical treatment of scars
Surgery is the oldest treatment for scars. The so-called scar surgery, to put it simply, is actually to cut the scars and re-sew them with fine needles and threads to reduce the scars, so compared to the minimally invasive treatment of laser and radiofrequency, scar surgery is invasive treatment, and it is generally necessary to wait for more than six months for the scars to stabilize.
Commonly used scar revision surgeries are scar excision and suturing, which are mainly used for small scars. The implant surgery or expander surgery is mainly used to treat large scars. In fact, the expander is a simple improvement of the implant surgery, which is a surgery to bury an expander under the surrounding normal skin, then the expander should be filled with water every week, and after two months, the normal skin will be enlarged, and the enlarged skin will be used to fill the missing skin after scar excision, while the implant is a piece of skin taken directly from the abdomen or the root of the thigh to fill the missing skin after scar excision. The difference is that since the skin around the expander is propped up, the color of the skin is closer, so the result looks better, but the surgery is more troublesome and takes two times, two months, and costs more than 20,000. The skin implant, on the other hand, is taken from the abdomen or the root of the thigh, so the color will be different, and the effect will look worse than the expander, but it only needs to be done once, and the cost is cheaper than the expander. In the early years, dilator surgery was relatively rare, but after a decade or two, now dilator surgery is also a daily routine, not to mention the tertiary hospitals, even many county hospitals, it is estimated that this surgery is done well.
Sixth, there is no exclusive introduction or advertising the fabulous latest or unique high-tech answer is no. The reason is simple.
The reason is very simple, any piece of equipment can not be a hospital’s own production, the hospital does not have production lines, their own ability to produce equipment, it can only be to buy manufacturers, and manufacturers to produce equipment for what? Is to sell equipment to earn money, since this is the case, as long as the sales know that the pursuit of manufacturers is to maximize sales profits, manufacturers of production equipment, whether good or bad, want the whole world’s hospitals to buy their equipment, how can there be a certain equipment other hospitals have not even heard of, and only a hospital exclusive purchase it? That the manufacturer of the production equipment sold this one, not to lose money.
Therefore, the so-called exclusive introduction of different equipment, are only packaged on a different beautiful name to attract attention, but in fact, it is the same thing, precisely the more the claim of exclusive introduction, the more likely to be the cheapest ordinary equipment, or which is not well-known manufacturers, the real well-known manufacturers of equipment produced by so many models, and large manufacturers of equipment is not allowed to the hospital’s own arbitrary title.
Even if the equipment is good, it is impossible which hospital exclusive introduction, this is not a decade ago, the hospital is not afraid to buy equipment, even if the equipment is more expensive, the most is to buy a relatively small number of hospitals, but it is not possible which hospital exclusive introduction. So the advertisements of what strange and bizarre claim to new technology, but only the hospital advertising, so many regular hospitals have not even heard of one, think about what is going on.
Seven, the relationship between laser, surgery and drugs
Laser and medicine can be used individually for scar treatment, but if they are used in combination, they are more likely to play a synergistic role with each other and increase the efficacy. Because scar tissue is relatively dense, it is more difficult to be absorbed by drugs alone, so some people feel that the effect of drugs is not particularly good. And although laser alone can also treat scars, but after all, laser treatment costs money ah, if free, I definitely advise people to simply laser treatment can also. When the two are used in combination, the high speed energy of the fractional laser can promote the softening of scar tissue, and the softened scars, more help the absorption of drugs, so the two can be used together.
Surgery is mainly used for lamellar scars, and the surgery itself still has scars, so for linear scars, or tiny minor scars, surgery is not good, and laser or radio frequency should be used to treat them. For scars that can be treated with surgery, new surgical scars left by the surgery itself after the surgery can also be further treated with laser or radio frequency. For some scars that cannot be done by surgery, such as some super large scars, since they cannot be done by surgery, there is no need to say that we all know that there is no choice but to treat them with laser or radio frequency.
In short, the treatment of scars is nothing but these methods, and these methods are not absolute which is better, mainly depends on the actual situation, or more is to be integrated treatment.