When assessing a scar there are a variety of features your doctor will assess in order to come up with the best plan for your scar. For example, I first start by examining the scar, noting the area of the body it involves, and determining the patient's skin type. Next, I see if the scar has any increased thickness (hypertrophy), thinness (atrophy), is flat, or a has a combination of these features. I then look at the texture of the scar, it can be smooth, finely wrinkled, coarse, or a combination of these features. Finally, I look at the color of the scar. Is it skin colored, white, brown, red, pink, tan, purple, or a combination of these colors. There are a variety of treatment options available to improve the appearance of a scar; however, it is not possible to completely remove a scar. To help improve the appearance of a red or purple colored scar, a vascular laser such as a Pulsed Dye Laser (PDL) or Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) may be used to decrease the red to purple hue. If there are prominent textural changes, a fractionated resurfacing laser may be used. For excessive thickness (hypertrophy) of a scar your doctor may add injections such as steroids, recommend silicone sheeting, pulsed dye laser, and/or a fractionated resurfacing laser. For scars which are thin and atrophic options include: fractionated lasers to stimulate collagen production or injectable fillers. Finally scars which have increased pigment can be improved with a skin brightening skin care regimen, a series of chemical peels, fractionated resurfacing laser, and/or IPL treatments. As many patients often have multiple features to their scars, I often develop a treatment plan using a combination of the above therapies for optimal improvement of my patient's scar. Warm regards, Dr. Peterson
