Best Treatment for Old White Hot Water Burn Scar?

Question

So I was accidentally scalded by hot water when I was about 6 months old. I'm 18 years old now and I still have scarring on my chest/upper arm and jawline.

	They make me extremely self conscious and I want to know if there is any kind of procedure out there that would reduce the appearance of my scars. The scars are basically white and lighter than the skin around it.

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

Hypopigmented burn scars can be improved, but not eliminated, by fractional CO2 laser. Another option, although more invasive, is to excise the scar in stages.  Surgery90210

Steven Wallach, MD · Answer

Hypopigmented burn scars are difficult to treat. Do you have any hypertrophy or scar contractures?  These are just some of the things that can "play into" the treatment of these scars.

Darryl J. Blinski, MD · Answer

Without photos very hard to evaluate. Go see 3 boarded plastic surgeon in your area. But the best treatment might be no treatment at all. Skin color tattoos are possible treatments. Regards.

Peter A. Aldea, MD · Answer

Burn Reconstructive Surgery is among the most challenging of all reconstructive procedures.
Without photographs, examination and a frank discussion with you on how to prioritize the reconstruction, we cannot give you a true consultation. But - several principles need to be made clear:- Every operation has chances for complication and failure - you may not get an improvement and things could be worse.- We should try and replace Like tissue with similar tissue (borrowing from next door)- I would suggest tackling the worst area first and doing things in stages.- Scar tissue is NOT normal skin and ideally should be replaced with as close to the normal skin as possible.
The procedure we would most commonly do is decide what scar tissue we want to remove and then put balloons under the skin next to the area and slowly fill them MAKING extra skin. When enough skin has been created, the balloons are removed, skin rolled over and the scar tissue is removed and replaced with normal skin.
Find the regional burn care center closest to you and meet with its Plastic surgeon(s) for their advice.
Good Luck.
Dr. P. Aldea

Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS (retired) · Answer

As Dr. Aldea nicely stated, the subspecialty of burn reconstruction in plastic surgery is a very challenging arena. You should go to plastic surgeon in your local burn center and ask their opinion. Tissue expanders, flap rotations and scar revisions are all possible but you need the opinion of someone who has examined you as to what is best.

Best Treatment for Old White Hot Water Burn Scar?

Answers (5)