The Centre, P.C. - Plastic Surgery Blog
The Centre, P.C. offers the latest plastic surgery procedures to patients in Elkhart and South Bend, Indiana, Michiana and the Southern Michigan area, and Chicago.
What is a Scar? - Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Any time the skin is breached there will be a scar. And once you have a scar, it is there permanently. However, it need not be disfiguring or even visible. When our doctors perform plastic surgery they choose locations for the necessary incisions so that the resulting scars will be as hidden as possible.Scarring is part of the body's natural healing process. We typically think of scars on the skin but other tissue can scar too. Examples are heart muscles, which scar after a heart attack, and the liver, which can scar from chronic liver disease. Typically it takes about a year for a skin scar to fully shrink and fade to a final appearance.
Scar tissue is more fibrous than the tissue it is mending, as it is made of collagen, a fibrous protein found throughout the body. Collagen is a connective tissue and its fibers connect the wound edges.
Each person has an inborn style of scarring. Some people end up with pale flat scars that are scarcely visible while others develop large scars which never shrink or flatten very much. The size and depth of the incision or injury also determines the final scar appearance.
Abnormal Scars
When the body produces too much collagen for a scar, the result is a large raised scar.
- Hypertrophic scars are red and raised but do not spread outside of the original wound area. They may slowly shrink and fade over several years.
- Keloid scars are a kind of hypertrophic scar which does grow beyond the original wound area. They can be red, pink or dark brown and usually cause a strong itch and sharp pain. They may grow very large, completely unrelated in size to the original cause, which may only have been an insect bite or a scratch. If they grow on a joint they will inhibit movement. Basically, they are a tumor, but benign.
- Contracture scars occur after a burn injury and tend to be deeper than normal scars. The skin is tightened so that the original smooth surface is lost.
For relatively small and shallow scars there are over-the-counter creams and ointments which reduce sensitivity and itching. Deep or abnormal scars may be treated surgically. Depending on the particular case:
- The scar may be excised and a new, hopefully smaller scar allowed to replace it
- A skin graft can be done using skin from another body area. This is often done for burn victims
- Laser surgery can vaporize scar tissue to reduce the scar size
- Steroid injections may be used for keloid and hypertrophic scars
The Centre, P.C. is a unique plastic surgery practice located in northern Indiana. Our heartland values of compassion and concern for your particular needs are complemented by the professional expertise of our surgeons and staff.
At The Centre, P.C., we offer two tracks to patients in Elkhart and South Bend and throughout Indiana and southern Michiana. On the one side are our cosmetic surgery and skin care services and products. And on the other is a coordinated set of services – surgical as well as therapeutic – for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the hand, wrist and forearm due to illness or injury.
- 800.909.2992
Elkhart Office
RiverPointe Medical Building
500 Arcade Ave., Suite 300
Elkhart, IN 46514
Phone: 574-296-9100
FAX: 574-293-1511
South Bend Office
MEDICAL PAVILION I
720 EAST CEDAR STREET, SUITE 450
SOUTH BEND, IN 46617
PHONE: 574-233-9100
FAX: 574-233-9108
Chesterton Office
1830 SOUTH 11TH STREET
Chesterton, IN 46304
Phone: 219-395-9200
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