“What is the best treatment for burn marks?”

I suggest you seek consult from a board certified plastic surgeon. This can help the surgeon evaluate in person what treatment options may be available to the child.

To answer your question I would need to know more details about her injuries. Patients with hand and face burns are usually cared for by plastic surgeons in a burn unit. Surgical treatment and dressings are normally used. After those wounds have healed, patients are treated with a variety of modalities - compression garments, massage therapy, secondary reconstructive surgery, and sometimes laser or steroid injections for thick scars.

The treatment depends on the depth of the burn. In some cases, dermabrassion of the area may even out the area. In other cases, if there are hypertrophic scars, surgical excision may be required. A consult with a reconstructive surgeon is a good first step for proper guidance.

Luis A. Laurentin-Perez, MD PhD.

Hi

I'm very sorry to hear about your daughter's burn injury. I hope that she was able to receive the necessary care in a timely fashion and that she is now well.

The marks or scars left over from such an occurrence can vary widely in their appearance, shape, depth, color, and amount of space on the body that is impacted. The treatments will vary greatly depending on the exact situation but may involve a series of injections of a steroid called Triamcinolone to flatten out ridgy or elevated scars, a series of peels to try to improve the texture or color of the scar, laser or another energy-based resurfacing to try to blend the scars into their surrounding tissues, or even surgery to reconstruct the area and use different skin substitutes of skin tissue from elsewhere in the body. I think it best that you see a board-certified doctor with lots of experience treating scars in your area in order to receive the best care possible.

She should be seen by a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon. Her options would include non-operative management (scar gel, laser, steroid injections) or operative.

I hope she is being cared for in a Burn Center. Generally, one would not pursue any definitive reconstructive procedures on a child that age, unless there was some functional issue. Once she is about 13 years of age, one can consider procedures to improve appearance. Generally things will improve significantly over that 6 year period. Good luck to you!

I’m sorry to hear about your daughters burns. Many factors determine treatment, depth of the burn or severity, location and age or time from injury. If the burn is deep and there is scarring, then early intervention may beneficial. Scarring on the eyelids, lips, ears, and web of the fingers need special care at a burn unit. My recommendation is see a plastic surgeon; even if the burns are superficial, we can help with texture and color discrepancies.

William A. Stefani, MD