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Show By C. A. DEAN M.D. MEDITORIAL: I have been , asked by many readers to discuss the planing of the skin tor scar removal. The original method consisted of abrading the top layer of the skin by vigorously rubbing sand paper over the scarred area. This was a fairly successful but somewhat some-what difficult and time consuming operation. Later on an Instrument with a rotating wheel, similar to the machine which the dentist uses to clean teeth, was developed and turned out to be quite effective. Various rotating heads are used (Including wire brushes) but their effect Is about the same that is to abrade away the part of the scar which protrudes above the normal skin level. The deeper the pits and scars, the more difficult it is to make the skin absolutely smooth. The wire brush rotates at a very high speed during the operation. Skin planing has been used mostly for old healed acne scars. It is not used to treat an active condition but only to help remove the scars after the acne process has subsided. It can also be used to remove scars caused by other conditions such as lacerations. Tattoos have been removed through skin planing but usually it is not worth the time and expense. ex-pense. The procedure is rather simple: The skin is first thoroughly cleansed and sterilized and then it is frozen to a certain degree with ice and a spray coolant. This makes the skin insensitive to pain and solidifies it as well; thus it is much easier to work with. After the top layer of the scar has been removed, a dressing dress-ing is applied for a few days. Healing takes place rapidly. If the scar is deep, the procedure can be repeated again on the same area. |