Arm Scar Revision

This is a 28-year-old man who came to the office requesting revision of skin grafts on both arms. He had some large tattoos in this area when he was "young and foolish." After attempting multiple rounds of laser tattoo removal he says his skin began to scar from the laser and he was told that he would always have a shadow from the original tattoo.

His next stop was to a local plastic surgeon to have the marks surgically excised. That surgeon told him that he would not be able to close the wounds because they were too large but instead offered to skin graft the areas. The "before" pictures above represent those skin grafts, but they look just like scars to the patient.

He came to me because he had seen similar scar revision on my website. After a consultation at my New York City office, I offered him complete removal of the old skin grafts and primary (direct) closure. Postoperatively, he followed a rigid support program with taping of the wounds as well as application of silicone gel. His results are shown about 8 months after I revised the skin grafts.

Patient Age:
28

Motivation for Scar Revision:
Unsightly skin graft "scars" after tattoo removal

Revision Technique:
The entire skin graft was removed and the wound was closed again using several layers of suture to keep tension off of the skin itself.

Anesthesia:
Local Anesthetic

Recovery:
2 weeks

Dr. Sterry has a great deal of experience with scar revision. He tries to come up with the most reasonable plan for each individual case so that you can move on with your life without feeling self conscious about your scars. If you're interested in finding out what results are possible for you, request an appointment.