Treatment for scars and stretch marks
Are stretch marks and scars getting you down? Scars can affect you both physically and psychologically, mainly if it’s on your face. Consequently, this often results in you avoiding meeting people due to your appearance. In situations like this, it’s easy to become socially isolated, resulting in feelings of depression.
Our recommended treatment for scars and stretch marks is microneedling. Microneedling reduces scarring and stretch marks restoring the confidence clear flawless skin gives.
Scarring can affect your self-confidence
Scars and stretch marks appear after an injury or trauma to the area. They are a natural part of the healing process, and although many will fade and become paler over time, others may not completely disappear. This often results in unsightly sunken or raised red areas.
Above all, we are asked to help with atrophic, ice-pick scars. Atrophic scars form after acne or chickenpox and leave a sunken appearance on the skin. This is due to a fusion of multiple skin layers which are tightly tethered together, forming a tightly packed dense layer. To allow the skin to bounce back to the same healthy level as the skin around it, you must disrupt these tethered links. We achieve this via laser therapies or microneedling.
Our recommended treatment: Microneedling
Microneedling uses tiny needles only 0.14mm wide and enter the skin to a depth of 1-1.5mm. Microneedling disrupts this densely packed scar tissue. The needles penetrate and leave the skin so quickly that each entry is only present in the skin for a thousandth of a second. As a result, the treatment is as comfortable as possible.
To further aid tissue re-modelling we also apply specially selected serums. These contain active ingredients such as SH-Polypeptide-7, botanical stem cell extracts and Palmitoyl Tripeptide-1.
We book treatments for a 30-minute appointment. Active needling will range from 3-10 minutes, depending on the size of the treatment area. The remaining 20 minutes is for pre-treatment cleansing of the skin and post-treatment collagen mask therapy.
Minimal downtime is associated with microneedling. Subsequently, the face resembles a touch of mild sunburn. This slight reddening will fade over the next few hours and will typically be fully resolved within a day or two.
Ablative laser therapies vs microneedling
Compared to ablative laser therapies, microneedling is an attractive alternative offering virtually no downtime. Laser treatment can result in you taking anywhere from 2-14 days off work post-treatment. The typical cost of laser therapy within the UK is £2500-£4000.
Microneedling is more comfortable than laser treatment and a fraction of the cost, therefore it gets our vote as the treatment of choice.
Microneedling: Our recommended treatment for scars and stretch marks
We recommend between 3-6 sessions for mild to moderate scarring and 6-10 for more severe deeper scars. Each session is charged at £150 with a recommended period of 4-6 weeks between sessions. This allows the newly forming cells time to migrate to the surface, thus ensuring that all will be successfully treated.
A full course of treatment costs between £450 and £1500 depending on the number of sessions required. The treatment will take between 3-10 months to complete.
Skin camouflage makeup
Camouflage makeup is an additional treatment to help manage scars by masking their appearance.
If scarring is affecting your mental health and wellbeing, then camouflage makeup may be available from your local GP as part of an NHS prescription.
Brands to ask your GP to check for include Covermark, Dermacolour, Keromask and Veil. The British Association of Skin Camouflage has multiple resources and has a useful website for further advice.
We hope this post has helped. For more information, please call us on 01384 254067 or use our contact form. A free face-to-face consultation is available to discuss your individual needs.
