Best Hypertrophic Scar Treatment?

Thanks for sharing.  Scars can be acquired from trauma or even after a surgical incision. Some people can be more prone to hypertrophic scarring and fortunately less commonly keloids.  Certain areas of the body can be more prone as well such as the sternum and deltoid areas.  There are effective treatment options which may include:TIME - almost all scars will improve with time.Silcone gel or sheetingScar massage/pressurepressure garments digital massageKenalog/Cortisone injections- may be repeated every 4-6 weeksLaser resurfacingFractions CO2Pulse Dye laserIPLSurgical excisionConsult with a board certified facial plastic or plastic surgeon to review your options.

Hello! Thank you for the question! It is common for scars to fully mature for up to a year. In the meantime, there are a few things that may help to ameliorate your incision/scar. The most proven (as well as cheapest) modality is simple scar massage. Applying pressure and massaging the well-healed scar has been shown to improve the appearance as it breaks up the scar tissue, hopefully producing the finest scar as possible. Other things that have been shown to add some benefit, albeit controversial, are silicone sheets, hydration, and topical steroids. In addition, avoidance of direct sunlight to the incision will significantly help the appearance as they tend to discolor with UV light during the healing process. If unsightly scars are still present after approximately a year's time, other things that your surgeon may consider are intralesional steroid injections, laser, or just surgical revision of the scar itself.  For hypertrophic scars, if that's what yours is and not a keloid scar, steroid injections will likely help  - to decrease the size, flatten, decrease redness/itching, etc.  Hope that this helps! Best wishes!

Hypertrophic scars occur when the body creates too much scar tissue after an injury or surgery. Often the scar will grow for several months and then stabilize. True keloid scars behave more like tumors and often continue to grow even years after the initial trauma to the skin. Even people who are not prone to hypertrophic scars can get them. Certain areas are more prone to poor scarring (over joints, the chest), and factors like infection, poor nutrition, tissue damage, and smoking can affect scar quality as well. Scar creams are non-invasive and can generally improve the appearance of most scars. They are best used right after an injury, but they can be used even years later. Creams that have silicone in them have more clinical evidence than
other treatments like vitamin E and Mederma, although Mederma does work
well for some patients.If the scar cream is not enough, the choice of treatment depends on what is bothersome about the scar. Tenderness, itching, and a raised appearance can be treated by massaging the scar, wearing silicone compression strips, and by injecting a small amount of steroid (usually Kenalog) into the scar. Redness and other discoloration can be treated with a laser that targets those types of pigments. One final option is to perform scar revision by cutting out the original scar. If the original scar was due to infection, significant trauma, or from other factors that are now under control, it will often heal better. Scar revision can also rearrange the direction of the scar or break up the scar with zig zags (called a Z plasty), which can make them less noticeable.