Would Acell Particles Help My Burn Wound Have Less Scarring?

Q: I was recently burned on my chin and left with pitted scars.  I am interested in ACell to repair and restore the skin.  I believe it can facilitate new skin to grow if the scar tissue is removed.  If you believe this too can you help me.  I am a 34 year old mother of three.

A: The treatment of acute burns versus the chronic scarring that it creates after it has healed is different. During the healing of a partial-thickness burn, the application of Acell particles may well have an accelerated healing effect that may result in less scarring than would otherwise occur with its healing on its own. Once the burn wound has healed and scar is formed, however, there is no role for any form of topical therapy. Removing the old burn scar and then reapplying Acell would be unlikely to create a better scar result in my opinion. This is because you are no longer working with a fresh wound that does not yet have a lot of scar tissue formed. In a healed wound, substantial scar tissue exists and removing the topical layer alone is not sufficient to change the final scar appearance. To have its best effect, Acell would have to be applied close to the time of the original injury to work with the wounded tissues before a lot of scar (unnatural tissue) has already been formed.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana