What is scar laser treatment?

• Scars can be treated in lots of ways – laser treatment fires beams of light energy into your scar to try to help the scar tissue settle down.  
• If you have a raised, red, lumpy or tight scar then laser might help improve the scar. 
• Laser can be used to make scars softer and flatter and can make them less red and feel more normal to touch. 

What does it involve?

• So that the laser treatment isn’t uncomfortable, the skin over the scar needs to be numb (local anaesthetic cream) or you need to be asleep (general anaesthetic). 
• Most scars can be numbed with the local anaesthetic cream which we put on an hour before treatment to make sure that the laser treatment it is comfortable.
• The treatment is usually very quick and then a dressing is applied and you go home. 

What happens after the treatment?

• There will be a light dressing on the scar for 2 days – when you take it off at home the scar is usually healed and dry and you just need to apply some cream twice a day for 2 weeks that we will give to you. 
• The scar may look a little redder than usual and there might be a ‘dotty’ pattern on it – this will settle. 
• Most people see the scar start to feel and look better after a few weeks, but this isn’t the case for everyone. More than one treatment might be needed depending on how your scar changes and these can be performed at 6-week intervals.

Are there any risks with the laser treatment?

• Laser treatment is generally very safe, however with any skin treatment there is a small risk of skin reaction to laser or dressings or infection, skin pigmentation or sensitivity changes. Your doctor will give you clear instructions on how to care for your scar post-laser.