Scarring
Skin scarring is a common consequence of life, including trauma, burns, infection and surgery. Scars can be tricky to manage which is why we have set up our Scar Team, to Support you in this journey to rediscover your true self.
Scars can either be deep or proud of surrounding skin. Each scar type requires very different treatment, and even that is bespoke to your particular situation and lifestyle. Scars should only be treated by those with sufficient expertise and experience as complications resulting from poor treatment make the treatment of the scar itself generally more challenging to treat.
Sunken (Atrophic ) scars can happen for a variety of reasons, including after surgery as in this photo, acne, and as stretch marks. Professor Azzopardi says "any surgeon can take away bad skin, but growing it back is a skill given unto very few". How do we do this? We leverage the skin's own repair processes to deposit more of itself, leading to faster deposition and improvement.
Acne scarring is a very important cause of grief in persons of all ages and across all skin types and ages. Acne scarring is most commonly of the atrophic type where the scars are sunken, but sometimes, the scars can also be raised, becoming hypertrophic and even keloid over time. Acne scarring often requires input from the whole team, and the Skinsurgeon Team is here to put you in Pole Position for this journey. Treatment of acne scars takes time but it is possible and has long term sustained results.
Stretch marks are a form of sunken scars that are generally difficult to treat. Like a piece of Frayed Elastic, they often happen when skin is stretched beyond its limit, and the dermis is thinned out and torn. Stretchmarks, however, often appear when the skin starts to become saggy after deflating, as the skin starts to become floppy and lax. Using unique protocols developed during fellowships in the UK London, Milan and beyond, Professor Azzopardi manipulates and leverages the skin healing processes to rebuild skin again.
Hypertrophic scarring results when your skin does not realised it has healed and continues trying to do so, resulting in a raised, lumpy scar. The scar may be itchy as the "feeling" nerves inside the skin get compressed and irritated, eventually also becoming painful.
Treatment of these unpredictable scars is more involved than that of normal scars, and often takes 18 months to complete. It is performed according to INternational Scar Guidelines, informed of course by Professor Azzopardi's extensive experience in the subject
Keloid scars are the extreme end of scarring where the skin not only does not stop healing but also invades normal skin.
Left untreated such scars may not only prove to be unsightly but also have a major effect on the patient's function by impeding movement, joint function, and or important organs in the face.
Treatment of keloids, especially when there is a family history, must only be undertaken by experts in the field.
Scars sometimes can be situated as sheets under the skin. This is called fibrosis and can have life changing repercussions on the function of the area as well as the appearance.
Sheet fibrosis can be a very challenging issue to sort out but our team of experts will support yon in every step of the way.
Finally, not all scars are clearly compartmentalised into one cause. Some may have more than one cause and usually are the most difficult to treat, resulting in distortion of normal anatomy, and skin which is stuck to the surrounding structures.
Whilst such scarring is often the results of major insults to the skin, these can be gradually and safely corrected over time to produce a result which is blended, and acceptable from a conversational distance.