What Can I Do For Ugly Scars After Erbium Resurfacing?

hypertrophic scars are often treated with corticosteroid injections, V-beam laser, silastic sheeting dressings (more effective than silicone gel in a tube, and sometimes massaging. There are rare side effects with both the injections of corticosteroids and the v-beam laser so discuss this thoroughly with your doctor.

Fractional laser is an amazing and highly effective treatment in our office. We use the laser treatment to help with acne scars, large pores, fine wrinkles, tissue collagen loss, scars, sebaceous hyperplasia, active acne, and for brightening dark pigmentation. Although there are very strong fractional lasers such as CO2 laser, we use lighter treatments for corrective skincare and maintenance of results. Our Thulium fractional laser, clear and brilliant laser, and Ultra Thulium laser are excellent options in our clinic. We also perform CO2 fractional and erbium depending on skin tone and tolerance for downtime. Patients do have to use a Melarase cream before and after treatment to help further reduce pigmentation after laser. Melarase AM, Melarase PM, and Melapads can seriously improve surface sun damage and UV related pigmentation. Dark spots can improve with these treatments. I recommend fractional laser for incisional scars as well, especially after plastic surgery.
Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

I'm sorry your laser resurfacing treatment resulted in lip scars. Your last session was either one session too many, or simply too aggressive (too deep, too many passes, or too much energy), or abnormal healing was allowed to occur. Any resurfacing that does not heal in 7-10 days means there is a problem, and a hypertrophic scar is much more likely. Why did your lip take so long to get healed? Was it allowed to dry out? Was there infection? Did you retard healing with water compresses, hydrogen peroxide, or acetic acid (vinegar) soaks?

Steroid injections, silicone sheeting, and tincture of time will all play a role in helping your scar be as minimal as possible. But, it will NOT disappear or go away; let's hope it becomes a very minimally-visible scar as time goes by. Good luck and best wishes! This will likely take as long as a year to improve maximally.