Scarring

Scarring is caused by a particular pattern of healing in previously injured skin. If the wound involves the most superficial layers of the skin – the epidermis and superficial dermis – it may heal without scarring. If it is full thickness and involves the deep dermis, the skin will heal with scarring.

There are different types and degrees of scarring that can be treated with scar tissue removal in Melbourne:

• Dark Scars and Light Scars – Scarring is a normal response from the skin when healing an injury with enough depth to extend into the dermis. Early scars are formed seven to ten days after injury and have only 5 to 10% of the skin’s normal breaking strength. Over six to twelve months, the wound remodels and a mature scar (which is either light or dark) can form on the skin;
• Raised Scars – Some wounds heal abnormally and produce scar tissue that can make scarring more prominent. This excessive scar tissue is put into two categories:
  • Keloid Scars that tend to grow outside the border of the initial injury, and can become large, painful or itchy.
  • Hypertrophic Scars are raised but not to the same degree as keloid scars, they commonly occur on bendable areas of the skin (back, knees and elbows) and result from the stretching of wound edges while healing.
• Indented Scars – Indented scars are the most common scar type and are most often seen on the face (where acne has been present). This is caused when not enough scar tissue has formed and therefore does not match up with the surrounding skin.