What Can Be Done To Improve The Appearance Of My Chin Scar?

Q: I had an accident about a year ago in 2009 and got a stitch on my right chin to fix it. The scar is about 1 inch long. I got my real color and texture for the scar. But the skin above the scar had a slight swelling which is making the scar more evident. Is there any way to reduce this swelling? I would like to know the technique and cost of the treatment, which would help to improve the appearance of the scar.

A: The slight swelling to which you refer in your scar is no longer swelling. That would have resolved a long time ago given that this injury is more than a year old. What you undoubtably have is a residual mismatch in the skin edges with the upper edge being slightly higher than the lower one. This gives the illusion of swelling when it is really differences in tissue thickness between the two sides. This is a result of the original repair.

The best and only solution to improve this scar is excisional scar revision. The edges of the scar are opened up and the skin edges are realigned so they lay more flush and can heal back in a smoother fashion.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis Indiana