Unfortunately, patients are often scarred by motor vehicle accidents, skin cancers, benign skin lesions, or burns. Although we can never fully remove a scar, a number of surgical and non-surgical techniques are available to help camouflage their visibility. Scars that are widened may be improved by excision and meticulous surgical reclosure. Others may be suitable for concealment using artistic applications of tissue reorientation (Z-plasty, W-plasty, Geometric Broken Line Closure). Or some may simply need a simple undermining with a single needle stick (submentoplasty) in order to release tethering.
Other patients may develop red, elevated scarring called hypertrophic scars or keloid scars. State-of-the-art correction of these conditions calls for steroid injections, Intense Pulsed Light treatments, or laser assisted drug delivery (LADD). Finally, erbium laser dermabrasion can be applied in either a traditional method or with fractionated distribution, effectively smoothing the color and texture irregularities of any scar.
