How to remove red scars after surgery

Scars will be formed after surgery. If you do not pay attention to maintenance at this time, the scars may protrude forward, which is scar hyperplasia. It will also cause redness. For example, drinking alcohol and eating spicy foods frequently will cause adverse stimulation to the skin and eventually form such symptoms. When this kind of red scar appears, it can be treated by non-surgical and surgical methods.

1. Non-surgical treatment

1. Pressure therapy: Suitable for patients with large scar area who are not suitable for radiotherapy and local drug treatment. The daily downtime should not exceed 30 minutes. This method is not effective for active keloids, but it can reduce the dose of postoperative radiotherapy and injection.

2. Chemotherapy: Use long-acting steroid preparations and inject them directly into the scar to inhibit the excess collagen in the scar and achieve the effect of scar degeneration. The main side effects include skin atrophy, depigmentation, capillary dilation, necrosis, ulcers and Cushing's syndrome, most of which are reversible. Other chemical drugs such as cytotoxins, immunosuppressants and other drug treatments have been reported, but serious systemic side effects limit their application.

3. Radiotherapy: Early use of electron beam or X-ray irradiation (within 24 hours) after keloid removal can reduce the postoperative recurrence of keloid and improve the cure rate.

4. Laser treatment: Suitable for flat scars without obvious functional impairment, and scattered, uneven, depressed scars of varying sizes left after healing of smallpox, chickenpox, and acne.

5. Others: Such as cryotherapy, wax therapy, iontophoresis, ultrasound, etc., for the treatment of hypertrophic scars and keloids. The efficacy reports are inconsistent and there is a lack of large-scale case controls and follow-up.

2. Surgical treatment

There are four most effective surgical methods for scar treatment:

1. Scar excision and suture: It is a commonly used surgical method for treating scars and can be used for scars of smaller area.

2. Dermabrasion: It is a surgical method that grinds the epidermis and the papillary dermis to improve the irregularities on the skin surface, making it smooth and flat and similar in color. It is suitable for superficial scars left over from acne, smallpox, chickenpox, shingles, eczema, trauma, burns or surgery. If necessary, it can be performed simultaneously with scar surgical excision, and the effect is better than simple grinding.

3. Scar release and local reshaping: For smaller, tense, cord-like or webbed scars, the scar can be removed and then a skin flap can be formed with the surrounding normal skin tissue to repair the skin defect at the scar site through cross-replacement.

4. Scar excision and free skin grafting: Larger hypertrophic scars can be surgically removed, and then free skin grafts are cut from normal parts of the body and transplanted to the scar surface to repair the wound and restore skin function.