One can never predict what scar life might leave us with – emotional or physical. While nothing much can be done about emotional scars, any physical scar, that is a reminder of a traumatic accident or a mark of surgery can be dealt with, medically.
Scar healing, on the other hand, is quite a complicated thing, with multiple complex variables affect the process altogether. The incision or size of the wound, the nature of your skin along with the tension around the wound/scar area all affects the healing process. The size of the scar is another matter altogether. In most cases, the scar barely heals and remains to form an significant part of your body surface.
However, it’s not like the scar has to remain a part of you forever, with medical advancements having shown some solution to improve the situation. Plastic surgery for scars is one such solution, which may not completely make the scar disappear, but minimise its visibility in the best possible manner. Plastic surgeons are fully capable of making most scars less noticeable with scar revision surgery, barring few deep lying, big scars. So, if you are looking to get plastic surgery for scars, it’s necessary to let the scar be in its state for at least 12 months since its inception. For most surgeons suggest this, the scar matures enough to take its full form. That’s when they will be able to suggest skin treatment for scars.
What is Plastic surgery for scars?
Scar revision, simply put, is plastic surgery for scars, so as to lessen the appearance of one. There is no standard surgery for scar revision, as there are different types of scars one could get.
Plastic surgery for scars ranges from topical treatments, minimally invasive procedures to operational changes, with the last one being a more advanced technique. Despite the different types of operations on offer, none of these methods will be able to make the scar disappear completely, but will only try and conceal it, leaving only minimal traces. Scar revision is not plastic surgery to remove scars, but to hide it better.
Steps in plastic surgery for removing scars
Anaesthesia – As it remains standard for any surgical procedures, the use of it in the skin treatment for scars measured in fixed doses with local anaesthesia, intravenous sedation and general anaesthesia, dependent on your doctor/surgeon’s recommendations the most common.
Anaesthesia is useful in comforting the patient for a smooth surgery
Treatment – The recommended treatment entirely depends upon the doctor, who after surveying the severity of the scar will tell you so. So with that, sometimes the doctor may recommend multiple techniques as well, while commonly a single technique is enough for most scars.
Understanding plastic surgery for scars:
The success of plastic surgery for scars depends on several factors. These include the patient’s skin type and the scar carried. At times scars are contracture, resulting in the removal of the entire scar tissue. On the affected, some adjacent healthy skin tissues are then lifted to cover the wound.
Skin grafting method used in case the above method doesn’t seem possible. The grafting process involves taking out a section of skin tissue from one area and attached into another. It is essential for new blood vessels and soft tissues to form in the affected area, for which enough time needs to be afforded for the healing process to do its work.
An alternative technique is Z-plasty. This process is employed when the scar is in a prime focus area and subsequently moved to another area. Like the other techniques, Z-plasty too does not remove the sign of the scar entirely, only making it far less noticeable.
Care post surgery:
After concluding the plastic surgery to remove scars, there would be certain discomfort among other things, listed below.
Swelling, bruising and redness are common after effects of surgery to remove scars. Follow the doctor’s advice with precision to further solve those.
Sutures will be removed in a few days after the surgery to remove scars.
Despite this fact, enough time is needed, so the scar tissues heal well and improve on the desired appearance completely. Ideally, they take about a year to heal completely.
Most doctors denounce activities post surgery. Activities which stresses you out or create obvious tension especially need riddance. The surgeon will advise on the activities to undertake or avoid after surgery to remove scars.
To further avoid complications, patients must follow the medications prescribed by their doctor who was part of the plastic surgery for scars. Self-medications are not to be experimented with unless the doctor says otherwise.
Of late, more and more people are looking for solutions to rid those scars off their bodies. Plastic surgery for scars or plastic surgery for acne helps minimise the problem to a great extent. It is vital that after the surgery you follow up with your surgeon/doctor for improving ways to take care of the affected area. Neglect would only lead to more complications to the revised area.
About the hospital:
Sai Sanjeevini Multi Speciality Hospitals, a unit of Singapanga Healthcare Pvt. Ltd has been providing health services to the people in need for the last 14 years. This health care organisation combines practical, proven research, cutting edge procedures and state-of-the-art treatment to produce excellent medical and lifestyle outcome for our patients. Our hospital and medical staff provide innovative medical care in a friendly, compassionate, community environment conducive to patient recuperation in a family atmosphere.