Facial scarring, whether it be the result an accident, acne or surgery can, for some people be upsetting and debilitating. Feelings of self-consciousness or anxiety are not uncommon and in the age of social media, the desire to have good skin is even more powerful; especially since studies show that worldwide up to 90% of adolescents suffer from some degree of acne.
Not surprisingly people have sought treatments for scars, creating a plethora of products which claim to at least reduce the effect of scars. However, as any plastic surgeon will tell you, a scar is a physiological phenomenon and requires some level of intervention by a skilled medical practitioner to have a truly positive impact on a scar.
Some of the treatments can leave the patient with some discomfort and visible signs of treatment for some time afterwards. They can involve the use of small blades inserted under the skin to cut away the scar tissue. Others involve using lasers, skin peels, the use of dermal fillers, or a combination of all of more than one option. It is important that a patient properly understands the process and the potential result of a treatment; there is no point enduring some discomfort if you are not happy with the end result!
Traditional Methods of Treating Scars
One of the more common approaches now is to use a technique called subcision. This involves the cutting of the fibrous scar tissue under the skin to release the depression on the skin surface, followed by the injection of dermal filler or nano-fat to fill the space created by the cutting of the scar tissue. The final results can be very good but the methods for cutting the scar tissue can be uncomfortable and leave bruising. Not what you want if you have a lunch appointment!
More and more doctors are using smooth round ended cannulas to inject fillers which are relatively pain free and generally do not leave bruises or tell-tale marks on the face after treatment. But these do not work well in scar tissue because they tend to deflect around the harder scar tissue rather than pass through it, which is what is needed if the doctor wishes to release it.
Disrupting Harder Scar Tissue
The challenge then was to find a device that could disrupt the harder scar tissue, while being comfortable and leaving no outward signs of treatment, making it possible for doctors and patients to simply and safely schedule and treat facial scars with minimal disruption to the patient’s daily life.
Step forward a UK medical device company and a plastic surgeon in London, who between them have created a product that now achieves those objectives. Known as the GTI Cannula® (GTI stands for Grooved Tipped Injection Cannula), the new device has a small groove precisely inserted into the tip of the cannula which has the effect of catching the scar tissue strands and breaking through them easily, without the traumatic effects of a blade under the skin. After breaking up the scar tissue, filler is injected into the space that has been created to support the skin above and smooth the skin surface.
Clinical trials have demonstrated very good results with a high level of patient satisfaction. The device has proved so successful that additional devices are being developed to be used on other parts of the body to help improve C-section scars, appendectomy scars or other abdominal marks.
Sterimedix is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and innovator of single use devices for ophthalmic surgery and non-surgical aesthetic procedures. Manufactured entirely in the UK at the Company’s state-of-the-art production facility, Sterimedix offers a complete range of cannulas, handpieces and devices for all types of ophthalmic surgery and aesthetic procedures.
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