Chicago Facial Scar Revision

Facial scar revision procedures can improve the appearance of facial scars resulting from accident, surgery, burn or acne. Scars cannot be completely removed, but they can be made less visible and even surgically relocated. There are a variety of facial scar revision techniques which range from surgery to skin resurfacing.

Candidates for facial scar revision should be physically healthy and realistic in their expectations. Certain factors, including skin color and type, age, and the type of scarring, will help to determine the scar revision technique that is right for you. Patients with scars resulting from injury may be advised to postpone surgery for up to a year to allow the body to fully heal.

Scar revision procedure may be performed in a surgeon’s office-based facility, a hospital, or an outpatient surgery center. Anesthetic options will depend upon the particular technique used. Local anesthesia and/or a freezing agent is commonly used for dermabrasion, while laser resurfacing and surgical procedures may be performed with local anesthesia and sedation or with general anesthesia.

Dermabrasion and laser resurfacing are skin resurfacing procedures which remove portions of the upper layers of skin using an abrading tool or laser light. These procedures smooth the skin of the scar and make them less visible. There are several different surgical techniques for scar revision, including the surgical removal of scar tissue. Other surgical options include the following: skin flap surgery in which an adjacent area of unscarred skin is lifted and moved over the old scar; skin grafts in which sections of skin are removed from another area of the body and then attached to where the scar was; and Z-plasty, which moves a scar to another area, usually within a crease or natural fold.