Scars result from skin injuries that can be caused by accidents, burns or operations. Scar formation is an essential part of wound healing, and ideally a scar develops evenly and fades over time. However, inflammation or disturbed wound-healing processes can be responsible for scars developing unattractively and conspicuously.
Scar tissue is usually harder and less elastic than the surrounding healthy skin tissue, and is also coloured differently. In addition, scars can cause a feeling of tension, itching and pain, and even restrict movement. When they are located in areas visible to everyone, such as the face and hands, this represents a serious aesthetic problem for those affected and can lead to extreme psychological distress.
You should therefore only be operated on in this sensitive area by specialists. Dr. Özdemir has many years of experience in correcting conspicuous scars and restores the natural appearance and function of your face.
How do scars form?
Superficial wounds, in which no deeper layers of the skin have been injured, heal without scars. With deeper injuries, on the other hand, wound healing results in a scar. A scar is thus the result of successful wound healing and ensures that the skin surface is intact again, protecting deeper tissue layers from external influences.
During this healing process, instead of intact skin, a kind of replacement tissue is formed that has a simpler structure than uninjured skin. It has poorer blood supply and is less stretchable and resilient than the surrounding skin. In addition, scar skin has no pigments, which is why it is lighter than the surrounding skin. It can also no longer form hair or sweat glands.
Depending on the type of wound and the healing capacity of the skin, barely visible or more conspicuous scars can form. In addition to the aesthetic aspect, they can also become a functional problem if they cause a feeling of tension, pain and itching, or even restrict mobility.
There are different types of scars; essentially a distinction is made between:
Normal (ordinary) scars:
They occur with every injury to the skin barrier. With uncomplicated wound healing, these scars are barely recognisable after a few months or years.
Hypertrophic (raised) scars:
They result from excessive formation of connective tissue during the healing process. Usually these scars are red and stand out from the rest of the skin in a bulging manner.
Atrophic (sunken) scars:
They result, on the other hand, from too little connective tissue during the healing process and are recognisable as a dent compared to the surrounding tissue. These include, above all, acne scars. Acne is an inflammatory skin disease that can damage the connective tissue in the dermis and thus lead to many small, locally limited tissue reductions. The overlying skin layers lose their support and collapse. This creates the visually sunken acne scars, which usually cause great psychological suffering for those affected.
When does a surgical correction with scar treatment in Vienna make sense?
Whether a surgical correction of your scars with Dr. Özdemir makes sense for you primarily depends on how great the impairment caused by your scars is for you personally.
Often, people have become accustomed to scars that have existed for a very long time. They are accepted, sometimes also out of ignorance that the scars could easily be removed or reduced.
For many people, however, the scars cause deeper problems for which your doctor will advise a scar correction:
- If your self-esteem is severely impaired by the disturbing scar: this is usually the case when it is in an exposed area such as the face, neck and hands.
- If the scar causes physical discomfort such as pain, itching and a feeling of tension, as well as impaired movement. The latter often occurs with scars on the extremities or neck, when the stretchability of the skin, for example over joints, is no longer present. This is often the case after severe burns.
- If the scars tend to tear repeatedly and cause open wounds (unstable scars).
- If the scar changes: sometimes its tissue grows excessively and is not confined to the scar area, but proliferates far beyond the healthy surrounding skin (keloids).
Your consultation with Dr. Özdemir for scar treatment in Vienna
The decision whether to undergo a scar treatment ultimately lies with you. During an individual consultation with Dr. Özdemir, he will, after a preliminary examination, inform you about the possibilities and limits as well as all risks of the procedure. Once you have made your decision, he will discuss with you which surgical procedure will be used in your case, depending on the type of your scar.
What surgical options for scar treatment are there in Vienna?
Plastic surgery offers a wide range of procedures for scar correction. Dr. Özdemir has many years of experience in the various surgical methods.
In uncomplicated cases, the scar is first completely removed. Dr. Özdemir then sutures the wound edges back together in several layers. He uses special incision and suture techniques that enable a neat wound closure without tension on the skin.
With large-area scars, for example from burns, joints, tendons and muscles can be restricted in their function. Dr. Özdemir then uses a local flap plasty. Here, the skin surface is first extended with several incisions. Then, by shifting tissue, adjacent healthy skin is repositioned, so that the defect is subsequently covered.
With unstable scars that do not heal and become infected again and again, the unstable area is removed first and then a superficial skin layer from another part of the body is transplanted into the scar defect. At the donor site, the skin heals like a graze.
In uncomplicated cases, the scar correction can be carried out on an outpatient basis under local anaesthesia. The procedure then takes about 30 minutes and you can go home afterwards. With large scar areas, general anaesthesia is used with an inpatient stay of one to two days. When correcting extensive scar areas or with skin grafts, several procedures may sometimes be necessary.
How should I behave after scar treatment in Vienna?
After the procedure, light wound dressings are applied. The sutures are removed after 4 to 6 days following an operation on the face, and after 5 to 10 days on other parts of the body. Until the threads are removed, the wound should not come into contact with water.
After the removal of the suture material, you begin the aftercare, which can last 6–12 months depending on the scar situation. Dr. Özdemir will give you various recommendations for this. These can be scar ointments, scar massages or special plasters that reduce the tension of the wound and which you should use according to his instructions. In some cases, pressure treatment with compression bandages or garments is also necessary. This has a strong influence on the later appearance of the scar. An essential factor for a good surgical result is regular monitoring of wound healing by your doctor.
For 1 to 2 weeks after the procedure, swelling and pain can occur in the operated area. Depending on the correction, it takes 2 to 4 weeks for all wounds to heal.
How long you have to take it easy after the scar correction depends on the operated area and other factors. You can make everyday, gentle movements after just a few days, but you should avoid exercise for a few weeks. Movements that stretch the skin in the operated area in particular should definitely be avoided.
As long as it is still reddened, the scar must not be exposed to any sunlight, and even afterwards you should use sun protection with a high SPF. Sunlight has a negative influence on the later appearance of the scar – pigment shifts can occur that can no longer be reversed.
What risks does scar treatment in Vienna involve?
The scar correction is overall a low-risk procedure. Nevertheless, as with any operation, complications can occur. The larger the procedure to correct a scar, the higher the risk.
Temporary bruising or swelling of the skin occurs more frequently, but is usually harmless and subsides again on its own.
The scar treatment naturally creates a new scar, which, with a corresponding tendency, can develop conspicuously again. The risk of such scar proliferation can in some cases be reduced by special applications with ointments or pressure bandages.
In addition, anaesthetic incidents, infections, post-operative bleeding and wound-healing disorders can occur during the procedure. However, these complications are very rare.
