Mr Morritt frequently receives referrals from GP’s and other Specialists and also direct requests from patients themselves to improve the quality of poor scars using Plastic Surgery techniques. He treats Private Patients for scar revision at the Claremont and Thornbury Private Hospitals, Sheffield.
What is a poor scar?
Poor scars have usually formed following previous surgery, trauma or burns. Although scarless wound healing is not currently possible (it is possible in the foetus), the vast majority of people usually heal very well following surgery or injury and are left with a pale, thin, flat scar once the scar has fully matured. In those who are left with poor scars, the most frequent complaints are that the scar is painful, thickened, itchy and raised. These scars are generally classified as hypertrophic or keloid scars. Other reasons for requesting that scars are improved include the scar being a different colour to the surrounding skin, indrawn, tethered and sometimes that the scar itself is tight and restricts movement.
Some patients have an inbuilt tendency to form poor scars and will personally have other poor scars or know of relatives who have poor scars. This inbuilt tendency to forming poor scars is commoner in patients with Afro-Caribbean heritage or in those with pale skin and red hair. In other patients, the poor scarring can often be traced to a specific factor such as that the wound or burn itself took a long time to heal or that the wound stitches burst open following surgery. Some areas of the body are prone to poor scar formation such as over the sternum (cleavage area in women), the outer area of the shoulder or on the ear lobe.
Scar revision treatments
A variety of non-surgical and plastic surgery options are available to improve scars:
Non-surgical
Steroid injections
Pressure therapy
Silicone treatment
Chemical peels
Laser resurfacing
Plastic surgery for scar revision
Scar revision with direct closure
Scar revision with z-plasty or w-plasty
Dermabrasion
Wound resurfacing with dermal substitutes e.g. Pelnac ®
Intralesional excision of keloid scars