Burn Scars: Treatment Options
Skin burns can be caused when skin is forcefully exposed to chemicals, intense heat, or electricity. The damage they cause can be mild or life threatening. Once the healing process has finished, it may be necessary to treat any scar tissue remaining.
The extent and severity of the scar depends on whether or not there was tissue loss during injury. Regardless, you should take immediate action to treat possible scar formation. This decreases the chances of developing debilitating scar tissue, especially with serious burns.
Options for Scar Treatment
Some of the most common treatment options include:
*Alternative Medicine
*Surgery
*Topical Techniques
*Steroids
*Resurfacing Techniques
Alternative medicine involves the use of natural products to minimize scar tissue. Natural ingredients such as rose hip seed oil and snail serum have been used for years to treat all sorts of skin problems. Both have shown positive results in treating mild burns.
Surgery, such as grafting, may be required in cases where burn damage was extensive. This method may also be used in combination with any or all of the following burns scars treatment options. This treatment "combo" is often used to treat keloid scars.
Topical techniques consist of pressure garments, tapes, and compression therapy. These types of techniques can precede or follow surgical intervention, however, there are times when these techniques are used on their own to treat smaller burn scars.
Treatment with steroids may be topical or administered via injection. Cortisone can be injected directly into the scar tissue to reduce swelling and alleviate pain. Steroid creams are prescribed and can provide similar results.
As for resurfacing techniques, these include laser therapy, chemical peels, dermabrasion, and microdermabrasion. These methods are used to remove certain layers of the skin and reveal newer, healthier skin underneath. Let's take a closer look at one of these treatment options - microdermabrasion.
Microdermabrasion for Burn Scars
Microdermabrasion is one of the gentlest forms of resurfacing. It can be done in a spa and requires no anesthesia, but should not be thought of as a substitute for dermabrasion or chemical peels.
Both of the previous treatment options require anesthesia and a certain recovery period. They are used to treat more extensive scar damage while helping resurface the skin in a relatively short period of time.
Microdermabrasion, however, is so gentle that it does take a while before proving itself effective. Scar removal with microdermabrasion is effective if you are trying to eliminate minor scar. Otherwise, use another treatment method.
To prevent burn scars, the only viable solution is to prevent skin burns. If this isn't possible, however, you can use a natural cream such as BIOSKINCARE to treat skin burns. This gentle product relies on ingredients like snail serum to provide excellent burn scar removal results.
Published December 15th, 2009
Filed in Health
