How Can You Prevent Scarring After Plastic Surgery Procedures?

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Besides the worry of pain during and after a procedure, resulting scars from plastic surgery are some of the greatest fears that patients have. 

For Asian patients, this fear of scarring is even more intense. That’s because Asian skin differs from the skin of other ethnicities. 

Because of this, you want to make sure that you trust your Asian plastic surgery procedures to a plastic surgeon who is skilled with performing cosmetic surgery on Asian patients. 

Dr. Charles S. Lee is board certified in plastic surgery and facial plastic surgery and has years of experience performing successful procedures on Asian patients. He is aware of the skill and detail needed to keep Asian patients from being left with unsightly scars after their plastic surgery.

What Makes Asian Skin So Prone to Scarring?

Because Asian skin is different from the skin of other ethnicities, Asian patients must be even more careful in their choice of plastic surgeon. 

Numerous factors make Asian skin more difficult to operate on, including the fact that it is more susceptible to scarring. 

The reason for this is that the outermost layer of skin (called the stratum corneum) is thinner on Asian skin than it is for people of other ethnicities. This outermost layer of skin is responsible for protecting the underlying tissue, so a thinner layer causes the tissue and skin to have a harder time recovering from injuries, such as plastic surgery incisions. 

In addition to Asian skin being more prone to scarring, the appearance of these scars is usually more noticeable and unsightly than scars on people of other ethnicities. Keloids (lumpy, raised ridges) often form on Asian skin in addition to scarring. 

How Does Dr. Lee Limit Scarring for Asian Patients?

Because Dr. Lee strives to give his patients natural and flawless results, he is conscious of the time and care needed when performing plastic surgery on Asian men and women. Dr. Lee uses different surgical and non-surgical techniques on Asian patients than on non-Asian men and women to ensure that the results are as perfect as possible.

Breast Augmentation

For women undergoing breast augmentation surgery, Dr. Lee prefers to place the incisions in the inframammary fold beneath the breast as opposed to making an incision around the nipple-areola complex. This is because there is a higher chance for capsular contracture* when the incision is made around the NAC due to the number of glands near the nipple. The resulting scars tend to fade over time. 

*Capsular contracture is a potential implant complication that requires secondary breast surgery. In cases of capsular contracture, the scar tissue surrounding the implant hardens and tightens, squeezing the implant and causing physical pain and aesthetic distortion. 

However, for some women, particularly in the case of a secondary breast augmentation surgery where the patient had a prior incision around the areola, Dr. Lee will choose the periareolar incision method. For Asian women who are candidates for this method of breast augmentation surgery, Dr. Lee places the incision around the areola. When this incision heals, there is generally minimal visible scarring so that Asian women can feel confident in having larger and fuller breasts without the worry of any distracting scars. 

Dr. Lee also offers Asian breast lift surgery, which takes the specific skin type of Asian women into consideration when lifting the breasts to a higher and perkier position.

Laser Resurfacing

Laser treatments, such as laser skin resurfacing, can cause issues on Asian skin, such as discoloration. Because of this, Dr. Lee pretreates the patient’s skin with Retin A® and hydroquinone to minimize the discoloring effects of the laser on the skin, and he uses a special laser designed for Asian skin.

With any Asian plastic surgery procedure, you want to make sure that your plastic surgeon will take your specific skin type into consideration, and Dr. Charles S. Lee can be trusted to do just that.

Want to Learn More About Asian Cosmetic Surgery in Beverly Hills? 

If you have any questions about Asian plastic surgery in and around Beverly Hills, please contact us by calling 310-271-5954 or filling out this contact form.

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