Laser Surgery: Q&A
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Avoid Scabs when Healing from Dermabrasion and Laser Treatments?
In many places, I read that it's best to avoid any scab formation when someone gets Dermabrasion or laser treatment. When I was little, I always thought that the best way to preserve a wound was with it's own crust and wait until it fell of by it's own.
So the question is: why is now the standard in dermabrasion and laser treatments to keep the scabs from forming? Why not let the body heal by it's own? Isn't it more dangerous to keep any wound open?
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6 Doctor Answers |
Asked by
new.bie
in México City
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Keep skin moist after laser treatments and dermabrasion
Many studies have shown that keeping skin moist and covered helps skin heal quickly with the least chance of scarring.
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Laser Surgery
Scabs get pulled off and cause scar tissue; the use of a moist gauze to cover these areas seem to enhance healing. We avoid the scab formation, and the scars all seem to be reduced, and the pigment seems to be preserved.
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Scabbed wounds after surgery may lead to more scarring
Scabbed wounds after surgery may lead to more scarring. This is because the newly formed skin must grow under the scab in order for it to heal.
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Wound healing: Scab or Oinment
Wounds heal best and fastest when they are moist. However, that is an environment that also favors bacterial growth. Allowing a wound to dry or scab, will generally cause a lower incidence of infection but ultimately will slow down wound healing. Therefore the optimal enviroment is to keep a wound clean and moist to minimize and expedite wound healing.
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Scabs delay healing and worsen outcomes after procedures
In the old days, the thought was that scabs helped healing. We know now, however, that is not the case. Allowing a wound to dry after laser, dermabrasion, or surgery and form a scab delays healing and leads to less aesthetic outcomes. The epidermal cells must migrate and repopulate into the areas that they have been removed from with the laser or dermabrasion wheel. If this occurs quickly, there is less downtime and faster healing.
A scab is really a big roadblock for migrating...
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Baton Rouge Dermatologist
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Preventing Scabbing after Lasers
Good question. Scabbing is NOT a good way to heal. It is a lousy way to heal. For a wound to heal its best, it must be kept well hydrated and moist (just like a new plant which is germinating). Allowing the raw wound to dry increases the likelihood of deeper injury and potential permanent scarring.
When you undergo a Laser (photoelectric) peel, Dermabrasion (mechanical) peel or Chemical peel, the mechanism removes a variable thickness of the outer skin HOPING the remaining deeper layer and...
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