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Find a Scar
Removal Specialist
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Patient Education
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 | | The Patient’s Guide is the most respected online publication providing information about scar removal. Our mission is to provide you, our reader, with unbiased, scientifically accurate information about scars, as well as potential treatments. | | >>More About the Patient's Guide | |
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Laser Treatments
New advances in laser technologies have made these devices the preferred treatment for many kinds of scars. Of particular importance has been the development of non-ablative lasers—ones that don’t “burn off” the top layer of skin. The recovery time with these lasers is much shorter and there is less chance that they will permanently discolor the skin.
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Pulsed-Dye Lasers
Non-ablative pulsed-dye lasers, which emit high-energy, ultra-short pulses of laser light, are now often the laser-of-first-choice for the treatment of atrophic (indented) scars (including acne scars), hypertrophic (raised) scars (including keloids), and even stretch marks. These lasers can help reduce the scar’s redness and thickness, and improve its texture. They can also improve the scar’s pliability, thus helping to restore some range of motion for people with contracture scars, which are often the results of burns.
For best results, several treatment sessions, spaced 6 to 8 weeks apart, are usually needed. (Keloids generally require more sessions than other types of scars.)
Fractionated Lasers
Once the pulsed-dye laser has done all it can to improve the appearance of the scar, a fractionated laser may be used to help remodel a scar, particularly acne scars. These lasers create thousands of tiny microscopic injuries to the scarred area—injuries that then stimulate normal skin tissue to come in and replace the abnormal collagen in the scar. You should begin to notice the collagen remodeling within a week of your first treatment, and the remodeling should continue for about another three months. Your treatment schedule will depend on many factors, but a typical schedule includes four treatments at monthly intervals.
Lasers for Stretch Marks
A pulsed-dye laser can help remove the redness and, thus, improve the appearance of stretch marks. A fractionated laser may provide additional improvement. Stretch marks don’t respond as well to laser treatments as do conventional scars, however.
Used with Other Types of Treatment
Lasers are often combined with other scar-reduction treatments. For example, steroids are sometimes injected into hypertrophic scars and keloids to enhance the effects of a pulsed-dye laser treatment. In fact, the laser treatments make it easier to administer the steroids because they soften up the scar tissue.
Your physician will advise you on which laser therapy (or combination of therapies) will be most effective for improving your scar. Be sure to choose a physician who has access to a variety of laser technologies.
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Ask The Doctor
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