Laser machines are all the rage today when it comes to tightening sagging skin, reducing lines and wrinkles, treating sun damage, and even removing hair on our legs, underarms and elsewhere. But they’re also working miracles on severe scars, from dramatically improving their appearance to restoring tissue, so patients can return to normal everyday activities that the rest of us take for granted. Scars caused by burns, injury or other trauma, such as surgery, often can prevent victims from doing something as simple as holding a fork.
I have the privilege of working with Lumenis, the company that in 2009 discovered and developed the premier laser for treating scars. The Lumenis UltraPulse laser with SCAAR FX technology, considered the most powerful CO2 laser in aesthetic medicine, greatly improves severe scars and is minimally invasive. Patients undergoing treatment are comfortable and heal more quickly. The laser works on smaller scars, too!
The United States military has placed the Lumenis UltraPulse device in key military hospitals all over the world to help their wounded warriors, in veteran affairs hospitals, and in leading burn centers and private offices to help civilian burn survivors, including Kim Phuc, a survivor of the Vietnam War bombing, and “The Girl in the Picture”; survivors of domestic violence involving acid burns; survivors of injuries suffered from natural disasters like earthquakes, as well as survivors of other domestic fire accidents.
Interestingly, Prince Harry visited the Scar Free Foundation unit at the QEII Hospital in Birmingham, England today and spoke to a doctor about the important work he’s performing in the treatment of scars using the Lumenis UltraPulse. “The center is a ground-breaking national facility that aims to minimize the psychological and physical impact of scarring among armed forces personnel,” Kensington Palace said.
While many of us have tiny scars from minor accidents or bigger scars from operations, we don’t often think about the life-changing scars that affect millions of people all over the world. It’s exciting to learn how laser technology can give their lives more normalcy. If you’d like to learn more, please visit hopeforscars.com.