Surgical Scar Treatments: San Francisco Bay Area

Scars are a result of a natural process of healing—a symbol of your body’s efforts to repair itself when it has been damaged or wounded. However, if you’re one of the unlucky people who have highly visible scars—whether as a result of a surgery, like a tummy tuck or breast augmentation, or an accident, like a burn or a dog bite—you probably wish your body hadn’t done its job quite so thoroughly.

Dr. Rajagopal discusses surgical scar removal with the v beam laser:

 

Scars form when the dermis (the dense layer of skin below your skin’s surface) is damaged and your body produces new collagen fibers—scar tissue—to heal it. This new tissue is often flat, but if your body forms too much collagen, you end up with hypertrophic or keloid scars, which are raised and more visible. Alternatively, if the fat, muscle, or other support structures underneath your skin has been lost (which often occurs in scars caused by surgery), your scar may be sunken into your skin.

LASER TREATMENT IS THE BEST OPTION

Some creams can help reduce the visibility of your scars, but there is only so much they can do. The small blood vessels (telangiectasias) that emerge just below your skin's surface as it begins to heal do not always fade away as quickly or as completely as you might like, causing a redness in your scars that makes them stand out. Pulsed dye lasers, like the Vbeam laser employed by Dr. Rajagopal for scar removal, have been shown to remove much of this redness—as well as improve the pliability, texture, and size of surgical and other hypertrophic scars—and have also been found to improve upon scarring from burns. The Vbeam laser is FDA-approved for treatment of scars.

BEST CANDIDATES

While the benefits of a procedure like a tummy tuck or of breast-related surgeries like augmentations, lifts, or reductions can be life-changing, they can also leave prominent scarring.[6] If you have red or raised scars from such a surgery, or from a burn, a dog bite, or some other accident, you could be an ideal candidate for laser treatment.

The Vbeam laser can be used to treat most people at a low risk. However, if you suffer from a skin disorder like psoriasis, cystic acne, or dermatitis, you may not be a good candidate for laser scar removal. Laser treatment is also probably not the right choice for you if you have a dark skin tone—pulsed dye lasers can discolor areas with high concentrations of melanin—although it has been successful in some cases.

WHAT TO EXPECT WITH LASER TREATMENT

Treatment usually requires between three and six sessions, but this can vary depending on the size and severity of your scars. Vbeam treatments are outpatient procedures, which means you won’t have to disrupt your life to have them performed. Each individual session can last as little as five minutes, or take an hour or more, and in general, no anesthesia is necessary. While uncomfortable, the treatment is not painful—at worst, you’ll experience a moderate burning or tingling sensation while the laser is in operation. When Dr. Rajagopal is done with the procedure, you’ll be able to leave and go about your day, with no downtime necessary for recovery, although you will probably experience some redness for an hour or two—as well as a limited amount of swelling for about two to six hours (although this can last for longer, up to four days at maximum)—after being treated. You may also develop purpura (mild bruising from the laser) soon after your procedure. This is normal, and will fade within one to two weeks.

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Whether your scarring is the result of an accident or of surgery, there’s no reason to suffer any longer from the discomfort with or self-consciousness about your appearance that it can cause.

With a high success rate and no downtime after treatment, Vbeam laser scar removal is an excellent option if you wish to reduce the redness and prominence of your scars without undergoing surgery, which can be invasive and painful. If you have any questions about laser scar removal, or wish to schedule a free consultation with Dr. Rajagopal in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, please call the San Francisco Plastic Surgery & Laser Center at 415-392-3333.