0 Hypertrophic Scar Treatments

Hypertrophic scars are also known as raised scars and a result of a hyper production of collagen. Although they are quite annoying and difficult to deal with, they are much less problematic than keloid scars.Keloids are actually an overgrowth of fibrous tissue that will extent past the original site of the wound and can keep growing indefinitely which makes it difficult to treat them. Keloid scars can take on a puckered appearance. The puckering gives them an irregular shape. Unfortunately, the longer you have these scars, the worse they get. They are pinkish or red and have a tendency to become large and unattractive. They can also be painfully tender to the touch. Keloids can appear anywhere on the body, but are most common on the breastbone, ear lobes and shoulders.The main problems with keloids are their tendency to recur and to require repeated treatments. Luckily enough, the predisposition to develop keloids diminishes with age.There are several different ways of keloid scar removal for both hypertrophic and keloid scars. The 2 most common are compression therapy and corticosteroid injections. Here you'll find out a bit more about both types of treatments.

Compression therapy involves applying pressure to the scar. Some studies have shown that when pressure is applied to the scar it reduces the cohesiveness of collagen fibers and inhibits the formation of hypertrophic scars and keloids. Some of the elements used in compression therapy include ACE bandages, elastic adhesive bandages, compression wraps, spandex or Lycra bandages. Compression therapy has shown positive results on existing scars, however, it is generally used to prevent the formation of scar tissue, especially keloids.

You can also achieve scar healing by using regular corticosteroid injections. These are often applied before, during and after surgery. Intralesional corticosteroid injections help treat both raised scars and keloids by deterring the production of collagen, by inhibiting the production of fibroblasts and by altering glycosaminoglycan production. Surgery and microdermabrasion are two types of scar removal options that can be used to treat raised scars. Surgery for keloids is a complicated topic because keloids tend to recur, however, microdermabrasion seems to be a safer option for both keloids and hypertrophic scar removal because it works slowly by gradually wearing down the skin until it is practically gone. Hypertrophic scars can often be treated with one of the previously mentioned alternatives, however, keloid scar removal most often relies on a combination of all of these treatments to be successful. If you'd like more information about scar removal, you should talk to your doctor.