Home/Scar Revision

What are the types of scars?

Atrophic scars – such acne scars, animal bites, post infections, post surgery scars and post trauma scars.
Hypertrophic scars - Keloids and contractures in burns and deformities.

Scar revision surgery will attempt to reduce a scar, so that it is less conspicuous and blends in with the surrounding skin tone and texture.

Scars are visible signs that remain after a wound has healed. They are the unavoidable results of injury or surgery, and their development can be unpredictable. Poor healing may contribute to scars that are obvious, unsightly or disfiguring. Even a wound that heals well can result in a scar that affects your appearance. Scars may be noticeable due to their size, shape, or location; they can also be raised or depressed, or differ in color or texture from the surrounding healthy tissue.

Your treatment options may vary based on the type and degree of scarring and can include:

  • Simple topical treatments
  • Minimally invasive procedures
  • Surgical revision with advanced techniques in wound closure

Although scar revision can provide a more pleasing cosmetic result or improve a scar that has healed poorly, a scar cannot be completely erased.

What is a scar?

Fibrous tissue replacing normal tissues destroyed by injury or disease or divided after an incision.

Contractures

By definition, a scar contracture is the result of contractile wound healing processes oc­curring in a scar that has already been re-epithelialized and adequately healed

Contractures scars affecting joint areas limit movement. Post-burn scars are inevitable even with the best of treatment because they depend upon the depth of burn injury. Except for the superficial dermal burns, all deeper burns (2nd degree deep dermal and full thickness) heal by scarring. This scarring can only be minimised by various physical therapy measures and plastic surgical procedures but not eliminated completely. The appearance of even the best split-skin grafted areas and the donor sites of these grafts is also a “scar” by the patient’s definition of a scar

The rigid, firm, erythematous scar contracture commonly causes sig­nificant cosmetic and functional abnormalities. The medial canthus of the eye, nasal ala, oral commissure, and neck are the most common sites for scar con­tractures on the head and neck, although any area can be affected.

Methods of surgery for treating contractures.

The two aspects of the the contracture, namely form and function have to be addressed together.
Some of the methods that Dr. Shivaram Bharathwaj has perfected, is the use of skin grafts and tissue expansion.
  • Skin grafts are both thin and thick and the selection of the graft will depend on the site to be grafted so that there is a good tissue match in colour and texture.
  • Tissue expansion Tissue expansion is a relatively straightforward procedure that enables the body to "grow" extra skin for use in reconstructing almost any part of the body.

A silicone balloon expander is inserted under the skin near the area to be repaired and then gradually filled with salt water over time, causing the skin to stretch and grow. It is also used to repair skin damaged by birth defects, accidents or surgery, and in certain cosmetic procedures.