Laser treatment for facial scars

Facial scars are common and cause functional problems and psychological morbidity. Recent advances in optical technologies have produced various laser systems capable of revising the appearance of scars from various etiologies to improve their appearance. Scar management with laser devices is optimized when individual patient and scar characteristics are thoroughly evaluated to determine the best course of treatment. Because scars have a variety of potential etiologies and take a number of forms, no single approach can consistently provide good scar revision. The combined use of various laser devices is essential, and the choice of wavelength and approach are individualized for each patient. In this manuscript, we introduce the concept of scar management with laser devices and the use of various laser systems such as low reactive-level laser therapy (LLLT) for symptomatic scars with inflammation, pulsed-dye laser irradiation for scars with inflammation and telangiectasia, and fractional laser resurfacing, with presentation of representative cases.