What is a Scar?

A scar is a mark left on our tissues resulting from a wound, burn, injury or sore that has healed leaving fibrous connective tissue. The response to tissue injury is for new tissue to developed, however sometimes this does not resemble the original tissue.

Skin scars can result from a range of different insults including diseases, infection, injury (chemical, thermal or mechanical), cuts, acne and stretching of the skin (i.e. stretch marks)

Blockage and inflammation of sebaceous glands on our skin results acne which can leave large areas of scarred skin. This can occur spontaneously but is often worsened by picking or squeezing the skin.

Frontal view of girl's cheeks and chin with acne scars

Multiple ‘ice-pick’ and ‘boxcar’ scars to the cheeks and chin caused by acne

Scar Treatments

The aim of scar treatment is to first treat the underling cause and then to stimulate the skins natural ability to re-model. Established scars require treatments to reverse the damage.

During a scar consultation your doctor will first discuss conservative measures to reduce the appearance (masking, massage, compression, silicone gel sheets). Most clients with have already tried most of these and will wish to proceed with interventions to reduce the appearance of skin scarring.

Interventional treatments for scar management include: –

It is important to remember that these treatments may require repeating and a combination of treatments may be recommended

Severe scars not responding to the above treatments would need referal to a dermatologist or plastic surgeon.