Skin is scarred by many causes. These include
acne, burns, surgery, accidents or chicken pox. Scars often
make people more self-concious.
Tenterden Skin and Laser can help. We offer 4 different laser
systems to ensure optimal results. Intense Pulsed Light (IPL),
long pulsed Nd:YAG and Er:YAG lasers, and UVB phototherapy. No
single laser can remove all types of scars and hence a
combination of laser treatments provides superior results.
The short wavelength intense pulsed light system (IPL)
produces a broadband light and is used to eliminate
superficial skin irregularities. The long pulsed Nd:YAG laser
treats scars in the deeper layers of the skin. For deeply
etched scars, we recommend Laser Skin Resurfacing using an
Er:YAG laser. These advanced high power lasers removes the
upper layers revealing the fresher, more youthful, skin
beneath. UVB phototherapy is ideal for the treatment of pale (hypopigmented)
scars.
Raised (hypertrophic) scars and keloid can effectively be
treated with silicone gel sheets.
At our Laser Clinic can advise you on the right
treatment for your skin. Call now to arrange a free
consultation with our experts.
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Rhinophyma scarring before treatment
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After treatment
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Scars come in many sizes, shapes, and colors. They can be
red, brown, blue, or white. Some are raised, while others are
depressed, indented, or bound down to underlying bone or
muscle. Some are hard and some are soft. But while scars may
vary in shape and color, they are universally unwanted and
disliked. In worst-case scenarios they are disfiguring.
Until recently, scars had to be erased with surgical
procedures like dermabrasion, chemical peeling, or surgical
removal that left new, hopefully less conspicuous scars.
Unfortunately, these procedures do not leave the area entirely
unscarred; instead, they sometimes leave a scar of their own.
Enter the field of laser biomodulation.
In nature, when a scar is formed, bodily cells produce
collagen in the scar much like a spider spins a web.
Technically, these cells, known as fibroblasts, lay down
fibers, dissolve some of them, and then make others. This
'remodeling' process continues until the newly formed scar is
as smooth and contoured as possible. But sometimes the scar is
not as well contoured as the patient would like. Sometimes,
including following procedures like the ones mentioned above,
the area where the scar was does not blend in with the
surrounding skin and body structures. This is where laser
biomodulation comes in. It can be used alone or with other
techniques to modify the scars again.
Biomodulation wakes up the fibroblasts in the skin to tell
them that they didn't finish their work. It works by
stimulating them to again remodel the scars and is used to
erase color, even out surface texture, or flatten the scar.
Biomodulation can also soften hard scars and produce more
elasticity in the skin so that distortions may vanish.
The Laser
Lasers produce intense light with a specific wavelength
that may be translated into a specific color. Each laser has
its own wavelength, much as a radio station has its own
frequency. When you turn your radio dial to 670, 780, and
1,000 you receive three different radio stations. Yet they all
transmit sound. Similarly, a laser may be 585, 680, or 755
nanometers (nm). The nanometer measurements used to identify
different lasers correspond to different emissions in the
light spectrum, but all represent emissions of light.
When a cell absorbs energy, it is stimulated to become
active and productive. When fibroblast cells absorb light
energy (i.e. from the laser), they repair defects in the skin
by producing collagen and remodeling it to fit the body where
the scar is being formed.
Lasers that induce biomodulation, or in this case stimulate
fibroblasts, can be ablative lasers or non-ablative lasers.
Ablative lasers vaporize the epidermis, the outer layer of the
skin. Two types of lasers, the CO2 and the Erbium-YAG laser,
are ablative lasers. After the surface of the skin is ablated
(vaporized), new skin forms in a matter of days.
Meanwhile, underneath the surface the fibroblasts are
stimulated and begin the process of creating collagen for new
scar tissue. The skin on the surface becomes red and slightly
swollen, and while swelling usually resolves within the week,
redness frequently persists for 1-2 months. This type of laser
treatment is usually performed one or two times on scars and
it is the most dramatic improvement seen with laser scar
revision. It is most effective in smoothing the skin surface
and evening out irregularities.
However, some patients cannot tolerate one to two months of
redness. Many patients cannot stay away from work for the week
it takes for swelling to disappear from ablative laser
surgery. And some patients need a change in the texture of the
scar, such as patients with indented or bound-down scars, or
firm, raised scars. This is where non-ablative lasers come in.
Non-ablative lasers come with various wavelengths and many
names: VLS, Pulsed-dye laser, N-lite, and Cool-touch to name a
few. All of these lasers treat the skin from within so that
the surface of the skin remains undamaged. Patients return to
work immediately with little color change and little or no
swelling of their skin. This procedure requires 3-6 relatively
painless treatments, usually at one-month intervals. Following
the procedure scars slowly fade from view. The bound-down scar
releases, and the indented scar rises. The raised scar softens
and begins to flatten and color fades to a natural skin tone.
The advent of laser scar remodeling has arrived and scars
can slowly improve and fade with a combination of laser
treatments. The earlier a scar is treated, the greater the
degree of improvement, so waiting for a scar to
"mature" is not in anyone's best interest.
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