All cuts result in scars. This also refers to injuries after surgery, and injuries due to scar removal. The purpose of such operations in not to remove a scar but to improve its look. An old and hypertrophied scar is replaced by a new, less visible one.

The final shape of scar depends on many factors. Apart from the surgeon's skills, the ability of a body to heal without hypertrophied scars, skin tension around an injury during the healing and maturing, and lack of complications during the healing are of great importance. Thus, even the most experienced surgeon is not able to promise a patient that a new scar will look better than the old one.

Other methods of treatment During the period when a scar matures, one can try influencing its future appearance. Squeezing it is the most efficient method. When scars are extensive as a result of burning, wearing special clothing is recommended. Smaller scars can be treated by massaging and pressing with the fingertips many times during the course of a day. Good results are also achieved by using silicone gel dressings against scars. Ointments with appropriate ingredients are also helpful.

Old and matured scars cannot be cured by medical treatment. They can only be operated on.

Anaesthesia The operation is conducted under local anaesthesia. The patient is conscious but he/she does not feel any pain. Before the operation the surgeon marks an outline along which the cut will be made around the scar. Injections are made in this area with a tiny needle. Only the first prick can be felt. All of the injections that follow are made to anaesthetised skin. The surgeon starts an operation soon thereafter.

Operation There are a number of methods for improving the appearance of scars and removing contracts formed in their result that can be applied in plastic surgery. They are used in the reconstruction and plastic surgery.

Sewing the skin after cutting out a scar must not lead to tension which deforms the features and spreads the healing injury. Obtaining a thin and long line after a correction, even if there is no tension, cannot be advantageous if the scar is still visible as a single section. The operation should reduce the width and length of the scar and relax the skin. One of the most popular method to achieve this is discontinuing the continuity of a line by making a zigzag. Surgeons call this operation "z" and "w" surgeries. To obtain the expected result, a single section of the line must be "broken" many times. A scar can remain in the form of a line, if a post-operational trace is shifted to the next furrow or under the skin fold.

The method depends on the surgeon who, however experienced, cannot guarantee the outcome.

Healing A dressing is placed while the patient is still on the operating table. During the first 2 or 3 days the operated area can be felt. Ailments disappear after an analgesic (Paracetamol, APAP, Panadol or Saridon), that can be bought in each pharmacy. If pain continues, one should visit a doctor.

The dressing is changed after two days. After a week or two it is taken off together with the stitches.

It is very important that the operated area should not be exposed to changing tension and excessive moves. This refers mostly to corrections of scars on limbs. The best conditions for healing can sometimes be ensured only in a plaster cast. As this is very inconvenient, the cast is seldom used. Thus, limiting one's activity during the first days after an operation is very important.