Scar Revision (Scar Revision Surgery) in Charleston

Scar Revision generally runs $500–$6,000 per scar (injections at the low end, surgical revision at the high end), and each Charleston clinic sets its own price. The biggest variables are the provider's experience level and the specific device or product used. Newer technology and senior injectors price at the upper end. Pricing is quoted in US dollars (USD). Request a consultation from any of our listed Charleston clinics for a personalized quote.

Maintenance schedules vary. Most Charleston providers recommend periodic refresh sessions every 6–12 months once optimal results are achieved.

Most patients wait 24 hours before applying makeup to avoid irritation on freshly-treated skin.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons groups them four ways, and each gets a different plan. Discoloration and surface irregularities (a red, brown or slightly uneven scar) respond to lasers, peels, dermabrasion and bleaching agents. Hypertrophic scars (thick, raised, red, sometimes itchy, confined to the wound) respond to steroid injections, silicone and laser, with excision for the stubborn ones. Keloids (raised scars that grow beyond the original wound and can be painful) need combination therapy and recur if only cut out. Contractures (scars that pull and restrict movement, often after burns) need surgical release with Z-plasty, flaps or grafts. Wide, stretched or stepped surgical scars, the most common cosmetic complaint, are excised and re-closed in layers.

Usually at a year, when it has matured: redness has faded, the scar has softened and stopped changing. Revising a scar that is still remodeling invites the same process that made it. Exceptions are a contracture limiting movement, which can be released earlier, and keloids, where early injection is better than waiting. Sun protection during the first year matters more than any treatment, because a tanned scar stays darker permanently.

No. The ASPS is direct about this: a scar cannot be completely erased. Surgery trades a bad scar for a better one, a fine line placed along natural creases and closed in layers under no tension, which then takes its own year to mature. For a scar that was wide, raised, stepped or pulling, that trade is worthwhile; for a scar that is already thin and flat, it usually is not, and laser or camouflage is the better answer.

Triamcinolone injected directly into a raised scar, usually three to six sessions a month apart. It flattens hypertrophic scars and keloids and relieves itch and pain, and most studies in a review of 162 treatment studies confirmed it works on its own. The catch is recurrence, which is why keloids are treated with combinations: steroid plus 5-fluorouracil, steroid plus laser, or excision followed immediately by steroid or low-dose radiotherapy. Side effects are thinning or lightening of the skin around the injection and small visible vessels; a skilled injector limits them.

Steroid injections $100 to $300 a session. Laser treatment $300 to $800 a session, in a series. Filler for a depressed scar $600 to $1,200, repeated as it fades. Surgical excision with layered closure $1,500 to $6,000 per scar in the US, depending on length, location and whether a Z-plasty, flap or graft is needed; facial scars cost more per centimetre. Insurance sometimes covers revision of a scar that restricts movement, causes pain, or followed injury or surgery; cosmetic revision is self-pay. Canadian pricing is similar in dollars.

They are the standard low-risk recommendation for new scars in people prone to raised scarring, and a Cochrane review of 20 trials and 873 participants found weak evidence that they reduce abnormal scarring and modestly improve thickness and colour of existing scars, while calling the underlying research poor and highly susceptible to bias. Use them: they are cheap and safe. Do not expect them to fix an established scar on their own.

The same as any skin surgery: bleeding, infection, poor healing, a scar that spreads again if it sits across a tension line or in a mobile area, changes in skin colour, and numbness. Keloid-prone patients can form a larger keloid at the new incision, which is why surgery alone is avoided in them. Smoking and sun exposure worsen every outcome. Choose a plastic surgeon or dermatologic surgeon who revises scars regularly and can show results at a year.