I have a mark on my face and small keloid scar on my chest. What are my possible treatment options?

Question

I got chicken pocks when I was 11 years old. I was never vaccinated against it. It left me with this lovely crater in my face. I feel like I would be so much more confident without all these accents in my face (also have a small beauty mark/ mole I'd like to remove on the OPPOSITE side of my face) I also was left with what I believe is a small keloid (?) on my chest? What are my possible treatment options? I use makeup to make everything the same color but it doesn't help much.

Ryan A. Stanton, MD · Answer

The gold standard for
depressed, pitting and even crater-type acne, chicken pox, shingles, and
similar indented scars is dermabrasion (not micro-dermabrasion) whereby the
skin is sand down with a diamond tip burr to the deeper layers leaving a raw
surface for about a week before new smooth skin regenerates. Note, this
procedure should only be done by a trained surgeon in an operating room not a
nurse nor a technician in a spa setting. Once your wounds are
healing then scar therapy may be considered. Although the results of scar
therapy vary from person to person and scar to scar, the results are typically
permanent. Not infrequently
potential patients avoid surgery because fear of an unsightly scar. To remedy
this, I now utilize and formulate compounded topical creams to treat, relieve
and minimize scars for each of my patients:• new scars• old scars• surgical scars• keloid scars• stretch marks• hypertrophic scars• hyperpigmented (dark)
scars• various acne scars, and
more...These scar removal creams
contain prescription strength medications each individually known to reduce
and/or reverse the scarring process but never before compounded together into
one high potency formulation. These medications are added to a base of anhydrous
silicone (the most common ingredient in everyday topical scar therapy) and
Pracaxi oil, found in the Amazon rainforest and known for its
anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. Many
health insurance plans actually cover the cost of the creams and they can be
delivered directly to the patients door step. In other words, no need for
multiple trips to the doctor for expensive and painful laser treatments, or
wasted money on minimally effective over-the-counter topical scar therapy gels
or silicone sheets that are unsightly and/or fail to stay on. Instead, with
just two applications a day my patients now perform scar therapy in the comfort
of their own home.  Glad to help.

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

The types of scars you have are different, and both are the most difficult to treat.  The one on your body is a keloid, and can be treated in many different ways.  My suggestion is to try a conservative approach with injectable steroid solution and topical silicone gel (Biocorneum).  If this is not effective, pulsed dye laser or Excel V laser can be a second option, sometimes combined with fractional non-ablative or ablative lasers.  If all fails, surgical removal may work, but there is always a chance of recurrence.  Your facial scar is atrophic, meaning it is indented.  The skin beneath is weak and often tetherd and a combination of subscision and filler to the area would be useful.  I often use Silikon for this as a permanent option, but takes a few treatments.  Surgical removal followed by laser treatment would likely give you the best result, but has a little more downtime.  I suggest seeking someone with experience in the treatment of scars.  We would gladly see you in our office anytime.  Best, Dr. Emer.

Harold J. Kaplan, MD · Answer

Hi BS.  The mark on the chest looks like it would do fine with a bit of injected steroid (we use Kenalog) to flatten it out.  The scar on the left cheek is a little more difficult because of the depth.  If you want to trade one scar for a potentially smaller one, then punch excision may be an option.  Alternatively, you are also a candidate for fractional laser resurfacing on the facial scar.  The upside to the fractional is that it will not leave another scar (like punch excision).  The downside is that the likelihood of reducing the depth of the facial scar is less with fractional resurfacing than with punch excision.

I have a mark on my face and small keloid scar on my chest. What are my possible treatment options?

Answers (3)

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I have a mark on my face and small keloid scar on my chest. What are my possible treatment options?

Answers (3)

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Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Scar Removal

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.