Atrophic scars. These are indented scars that happen when your skin heals below the normal layer of skin due to a lack of tissue.
Depressed (atrophic): These sunken scars often result from chickenpox or acne. They look like rounded pits or small indentations in the skin. Also called ice pick scars, they develop most often on the face. Acne scars may become more noticeable as you age because the skin loses collagen and elasticity over time.
What causes wound dehiscence? A surgical wound infection is the most common cause of wound dehiscence. This happens when you have incisions (cuts) in your skin. Surgical wound infections happen when bacteria get into your body through the incisions (cuts) that your surgeons make.
It's natural to wonder, “Do indented scars fill in over time?” Unfortunately, these scars won't disappear on their own. Atrophic scars rarely go away completely, but with the help of a dermatology provider, you may be able to successfully reduce their appearance.
Scars along the incision line may even stick to the structures below the skin and cause a “dimpling” or “ sunk in” look. This is called scar tissue depression.
Soft tissue fillers.
Injecting collagen, fat or other substances under the skin can plump the skin over indented scars. The goal is to make the scars less noticeable. Results are temporary, so repeat treatments are needed to retain the effect.
An atrophic scar takes the form of a sunken recess in the skin, which has a pitted appearance. These are caused when underlying structures supporting the skin, such as fat or muscle, are lost.
For best results, you should perform scar massage for at least 10 minutes, twice a day, for six months. You should only stop sooner than that if the scar starts showing signs of infection or you experience intolerable discomfort.
The filler of choice for filling indented scars is generally a biostimulator to lay down a new layer of fresh collagenous tissue that will continue stimulating your body to create new collagen. Radiesse® and Sculptra® are examples of fillers used to treat acne and other depressed scars.
And vitamin C is a key player when it comes to creating collagen. Even though collagen and wounds are usually discussed in the context of repairing fresh injuries, since collagen helps make healthy tissue, it can impact older scars as well and improve their appearance.
Atrophic depressed facial scars can be effectively treated with hyaluronic acid fillers with esthetically satisfactory clinical outcome with a low risk or complications.
Atrophic Scars
They are depressed, sunken and often have a pitted appearance. Atrophic scars happen when the body does not make enough collagen while healing, which causes the loss of tissue. Acne, chickenpox or injuries involving loss of skin tissue are the usual causes of these scars.
About the Post Cesarean Scar Apron
This occurs secondary to breaks in the fascial repair of the Cesarean scar and fat herniations through the fascia breaks. Fibrosis or scarring in this area results in the “sunken in appearance” of the scar.
Scar Process
It will take six to 18 months for the scar to have its final appearance. Your scar should gradually soften and fade over these six to 18 months, but will look pink initially (photo B). Some scars never fade. If your scar stays pink after 12 to 18 months please call to discuss options.
With atrophic scars, not enough collagen or scar tissue is formed, leaving an indent in the skin. Chicken pox and acne are both common skin infections that leave pockmarks or pitted scars. Large wounds like burns or skin cancer removal with Mohs surgery can leave larger atrophic scars that disfigure the skin.
Mederma PM Cream can be used on atrophic scars such as acne and chicken pox scars. Mederma® PM Cream may help to smooth and soften the edges of the pox mark but it will not cause the indented area to fill in. By smoothing the edges, the mark may become less noticeable.
Scar Treatment. Although scars cannot be completely removed, their appearance can be improved to some extent. Methods for improving the appearance of scars include: Topical treatments.
Unless the fibers that attach the depressed area of skin to the muscle underneath are released, the indentation will remain no matter what types of surface treatments are performed. Subcision is the treatment that cuts the fibrous tethers pulling the scar down.
A keloid scar is when a scar keeps growing and becomes bigger than the original wound. It can happen if you have too much of a substance called collagen in your skin. It can happen after any sort of injury or damage to your skin such as a cut, burn, surgery, acne or a body piercing.
Atrophic scars look like little indents or dimples in the skin and may be further classified as icepick (deep and narrow), rolling (broad with sloping edges) or boxcar scars (broad with sharp edges).
What Are Atrophic Scars? An atrophic scar develops when the skin cannot regenerate tissue correctly. Unlike keloids and hypertrophic scars, atrophic scars are indented in appearance due to healing that occurs below the expected layer of skin.
A dehisced wound can appear fully open – the tissue underneath is visible – or it can be partial, where just the top portion of the skin has torn open. The wound could be red around the wound margins, have drainage, or it could be bleeding or seeping, where only a thin trickle of blood is coming out.