Burn Scar Revision

Burn injuries can leave a patient with significant scarring that can affect both appearance and function. These scars can cause pain, bleeding, itching or restricted movement. To improve quality of life, hypertrophic scars require careful attention from a highly experienced specialist. The surgeons at Weill Cornell Medicine have the expertise you need.

At Weill Cornell Medicine, our multidisciplinary team of specialists offers the most advanced technology and treatment options to improve the skin’s function, mobility, appearance and feel.

As our patient, you will have access to the most advanced treatment options and technology, as well as receive compassionate care from the multidisciplinary team at the Weill Cornell Medicine Burn Center to support your physical and emotional well-being.

Medical/Non-Surgical Treatment of Burn Scar

Pressure therapy is one of the mainstays of post-burn scar management during the first year after an injury. Our team utilizes a number of compression modalities to compress the burn scar in order to decrease thickness and relieve the painful sequelae of burn injury including:

●      Tubigrip

●      Silipose

●      Silicone gel sheets

●      Customized compression garments

Our burn clinic has compression garment measuring services available to permit customized fitting of garments for the tightest compression possible.

Physical therapy, occupational therapy and hand therapy are often needed to improve range of motion limited by burn scars. Each of our burn clinics is staffed by a therapist who assesses the patient and can direct the patient for additional treatments.

Psychosocial Support for Burn Survivors

We also care for the social health of our burn patients. Our burn clinic is staffed by a licensed social worker who specializes in the care of burn patients and offers resources for helping with worker's compensation issues.

Our burn survivors have a support group that meets monthly to provide a safe protected forum to discuss personal issues related to the recovery and social reintegration of the burn patient.

Advanced Scar Treatment Options to Improve Your Quality of Life

The Laser Scar Revision Program at the Weill Cornell Medicine Burn Center is the only program in New York City to offer this highly specialized treatment option for scars, as well as the only verified burn center in New York City that treats patients of all ages.

We offer the Lumenis UltraPulse CO2 ablative laser to treat burn scars. This laser is the best studied of the light-based treatments for scars and is effective for addressing scar hypertrophy and associated symptoms especially itching and tightness.

We also use intralesional injections of triamcinolone and 5-fluorouracil to decrease scar thickness.

Diagnosing and Understanding Burn Scars

Thorough history and physical examination, photographic evaluation stored in our secure electronic medical record, assessment by our physical, occupational and hand therapists, our team understands burn scars to help enhance each patient’s quality of life.

For symptomatic scars causing range of motion limitations or open wounds, reconstructive surgical options are available including:

●      Adjacent tissue rearrangements

●      Scar contracture releases with split thickness skin grafting

●      Advanced coverage options with dermal substitutes

o   Integra and Biodegradable Temporizing Matrix

o   Epidermal grafting (ReCell)

Request an Appointment

To request an appointment, please fill out our form. Our staff will help you find the physician who best fits your individual medical needs.