Scar Revision
| Scar Revision Cost
Approximate Cost : $50 and up |
Scar Revision
About Scar Revision
Scars are the natural result of the body’s attempt to heal an open wound or tear in the skin surface or body tissues. All people form scars, and scars always result from surgical incisions or trauma which goes to or through the deeper layers of the skin or underlying tissues and structures. In fact, scars occur from any type of procedure, and there is no such thing as a “scarless” operation, regardless what is hyped or advertised.
Unfortunately, sometimes the body’s healing results in scars which are unsightly or cause unwanted symptoms such as tightness or pain.
The process of scar revision involves the removal of the offending scar and its replacement with an improved surrounding skin or soft tissue. This may allow the scar to be minimized and camouflaged in a much functional and aesthetic way.
Healing of Scars
Scars are one of the few things whose appearance tends to improve with age! What are often thickened, unsightly scars at first can become thinner and almost unnoticeable with time.
Scars commonly undergo several stages of healing. A carefully closed incision or wound will typically have a small amount of swelling and bruising over the first several days after the injury or procedure. Sutures are then removed, if necessary, and wound healing and scar production begins. The body brings in natural building blocks such as collagen to the area of the wound to allow the area of scar to be bridged and sealed.
The scar will appear to become more lumpy and redder at first. This process will take between two and six weeks. Between approximately four and eight weeks the scar will look much wider and redder than it did initially. This is usually the worst the scar will look, and this is a natural part of the healing process. The scar will tend to remain red for 1-6 months afterwards. After that as the collagen, fibers and scar organizes and matures, the scar tends to contract down and flatten out. The color becomes less red and begins to take on the color and appearance of the surrounding tissue. It will then gently fade with time.
Keloid Scars
Sometimes scars do not heal as expected or described above. In some individuals, the scars can actually overgrow the edges of the wounds and get larger, rather than smaller, with time. Such healing scars are known as keloids. They tend to occur most frequently in individuals with darker and thicker skin.
Fortunately, though, most people do not develop keloids. In fact, the vast majority of people who think they have keloids and have one or more wide scars have a type of scarring called hypertrophic scarring instead (see below). Dr. Granzow will discuss the details of keloids vs. hypertrophic and other sorts of scars with you in detail at your consultation.
Keloids can sometimes become a significant problem and may be very difficult to treat. They can result in cauliflower-like overgrowths of skin and are quite prone and often recur even if removed by the most careful surgeon.
Keloids are most commonly treated with direct excision or removal of the area. Additional treatments such as steroid injections, surface creams and even radiation may be attempted or required as dictated by the lesion. Unfortunately, the recurrence rate of keloids may be greater than 50% in even the most experienced hands.
Hypertrophic Scars
Hypertrophic scars are used to describe thick and widened scars which can and do occur in some people during the normal healing process. They are often confused with keloids but are differentiated by the fact that the actual scar or healing material usually does not extend past the borders of the scar itself.
Hypertrophic scars may be wide, painful and very unsightly. However, they are often amenable to excision and treatment and are usually more easily treated then keloids.
Scar Contractures
All scars heal and contract with time. This is the body’s natural method of pulling together a wide wound into as small and compact an area as possible.
However, sometimes the body’s natural contraction of the scar edges result in an over-contraction or tightness in that area. This is called a contracture. Such contractures can be painful and unsightly.
Fortunately, such contractures are often amenable to scar revision with specialized flaps or scar revision techniques.
Z-plasty
Z-plasty describes the specialized surgical procedure used to relieve tightened scars or contractures. Small incisions are made along the length of the scar in a pattern similar to the capital letter Z, hence the name. These small incisions then allow the skin next to the scar to be rearranged to relax the tension and provide greater length and movement to the area. The straight-line shape of a scar may also be made more irregular. This irregularity will help hide the appearance of the scar and make it less noticeable.
In the hands of an experienced surgeon, a Z-plasty can be performed safely and effectively as an outpatient procedure under local anesthesia.
Local Skin Flaps
Local skin flaps are described areas of tissue, near the site of a scar or wound that can be moved carefully to cover the wound or fill in an area where a defect has been created or a scar excised. An almost innumerable number of such flaps and their variations exist and Dr. Granzow will go over the specifics of the flaps that are most appropriate and effective for your individual case if they are required.
Local flaps have the advantage that they can usually be performed as an outpatient procedure under local anesthesia. They allow skin with a similar color and texture to the area that must be repaired to be brought in for an overall better final appearance.
Skin Grafts
A skin graft is a small area of skin taken from another area of the body to cover a wound defect. Skin grafts are easy for an experienced Plastic Surgeon to perform and quite effective in many cases. However, skin from a different area of the body may have different color or texture than the area that must be repaired, leaving a color and texture match that may be permanent.
The decision about whether to use a skin graft flap or a local scar revision technique can often be quite involved and require the expertise of an experienced plastic surgeon.
Risks of Scar Revision
Scar revision is normally quite a safe procedure. Most scar revisions can be performed under local anesthesia in an outpatient setting. Healing tends to be rapid and the procedure and the recovery usually are not painful.
Risks common in a scar revision are low and are similar for all surgeons and centers. These include bleeding, infection, pain, damage to nerves and vessels, small fluid collections and numbness of the skin around the surgical area. There is a chance that a skin graft or flap or a skin edge may lose blood supply and require further revision. Scars that are excised are always, by definition, replaced by other scars, although these tend to heal much more cleanly and leave a significantly better cosmetic result than the original scar. Reactions to anesthesia are rare but have been known to occur and an unsightly scar, especially if it is a keloid or hypertrophic scar, may recur and require further treatment.
Hi
Cool article, you deserve a free laptop: http://tinyurl.com/232zwg9
yea great Work.
Hello everyone.. enjoy reading the blog and posting for the first time. Keep up the good work.
We ought to have good hygiene.
want even more writing like this…
Seriously happy i found this amazing site, will be sure to book mark it so i can check out regularly.
Hi Clayton,You get all this wrong! In the last post you can the propper explanation in details.
Resources just like the one you mentioned here might be very helpful to me! I’ll put up a link to this web page http://plasticsurgeryportalca.com/procedures/procedures-costs/scar-revision on my blog. I am certain my guests will discover that very valuable. Thank you for sharing!
Mate! This blog site is awesome! How do you make it look this good .
I have always been believed in common people with creative ideas who can make aspiring articles.
Hey admin, I have a tiny request. I was just googleing for some info on this topic you wrote and found this blog. Some really great stuff you shared here, can I please link to this post on my new website I’m currently working on? It would be great
. I will check back again later to see how you responded. cheers, Nina Wilson
This is actually one of many greater content articles regarding the ones that I have stay with me this subject matter these days. Excellent function.
I like this info and it has given me some inspiration to succeed, so keep up the good work. =)
Im no expert, but I suppose you just crafted the best point. You certainly know what youre talking about, and I can really get behind that. Thanks for staying so upfront and so straightforward.
Man I like this comment and it was so informational and I am gonna bookmark it. One thing to say the Superb analysis this article has is greatly remarkable.Who goes that extra mile these days? Well Done! Just one more tip you caninstall a Translator Application for your Global Readers
There are some attention-grabbing points in time in this article however I don?t know if I see all of them center to heart. There is some validity however I will take maintain opinion till I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we would like extra! Added to FeedBurner as nicely
Awesome post ! Thanks for, visiting this blog mate! I will email you again. I didn’t know that.
Im impressed, I must say. extremely rarely do I discovered a blog thats both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, youve hit the nail on the pinnacle. Your opinion is outstanding; the matter is something that not plenty of people are speaking intelligently regarding. Im extremely happy that I stumbled across this in my rummage around for one thing relating to it.
The very core of your writing while appearing agreeable originally, did not really settle perfectly with me after some time. Someplace throughout the paragraphs you were able to make me a believer unfortunately just for a while. I nevertheless have got a problem with your jumps in logic and you would do well to fill in all those gaps. If you can accomplish that, I will surely end up being amazed.
I admit, I have not been on this webpage in a long time… however it was another joy to see It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even professionals. I thank you to help making people more aware of possible issues.Great stuff as usual.
Very neat article post.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
I am sorry, that has interfered… This situation is familiar To me. Write here or in PM.
I’d must examine with you here. Which is not one thing I often do! I take pleasure in reading a submit that can make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to remark!
What I want to know is why I should care? I mean, not to say that what youve got to say isnt important, but I mean, its so generic. Everyones talking about this man. Give us something more, something that we can get behind so we can feel as passionately about it as you do.