WASHINGTON — Lasers, combined with a better understanding of how the body heals wounds, have helped make life easier for people who once had to just live with a bad scar.
A procedure considered experimental as recently as five years ago is helping some people’s scars disappear.
“I have a patient, for instance, who tells me, ‘I can tie my shoes again,’ and he wasn’t able to do that before laser scar revision,” said Dr. Taryn Travis, a burn surgeon at Medstar Washington Hospital Center.
“I have people who can all of a sudden buckle their belt, because they have mobility in their fingers again that they didn’t have before,” Travis said.
Laser scar revision is most effective on raised, thick, puffy scars; those that hurt or are itchy; and those that limit range of motion, Travis said. Scars that are very red or dark in color are less modifiable.
The procedure can help scars from a wide range of trauma, such as burns, surgeries or dog bites.
“Any patient with a scar is a potential candidate for laser scar revision,” Travis said, adding that insurance tends to cover most of the cost.
So, how does it work?
The body’s response to wounds is to try to repair them as quickly as possible. “It lays down the building blocks for skin in a very disorganized way,” Travis said.
But, using a laser on a healed scar to create minuscule holes allows the body to fill in the holes in a more organized way. “So, what that results in is, over time, with repeated sessions, you can transform a scar into something much closer to normal skin,” Travis said.
Depending on the situation, patients can see results with just a few 15-minute outpatient treatments. Some patients’ scars continue to look better, Travis said, even after a dozen treatments.
