Is Dermabrasion Right For Your Skin?

Dermal abrasion, or surgical planing of the skin, is done in selected patients with facial disfigurements from scars resulting from acne, trauma, tattoo, nevi, freckles, and chickenpox or smallpox.

The procedure involves the removal of the epidermis and some superficial dermis while reserving enough of the dermis to allow re-epithelialization of the dermabraded areas. Results are best in the face, because it is rich in intra-dermal epithelial elements.

Surgical planning or dermabrasion is performed either manually with coarse abrasive paper, or mechanically with an abrader or a rapidly rotating wire brush.

Patient Instruction and Preparation

The primary reason for undergoing dermabrasion is to improve the appearance.

Before the process begins, the surgeon explains to the patient what he can expect from dermabrasion. The patient should also be informed about the nature of the postoperative dressing, the discomforts he may experience, and how long it will take before his tissues will look normal again.

Normally, the extent of the surface to be planed will determine whether the procedure takes place in the surgeon's office, the clinic, or the hospital. In most cases, a general anesthetic is used and the patient is hospitalized.

The skin is thoroughly cleansed for several days before the surgery. Shaving is not necessary in the female, but with the males, it is important to shave their face on the morning of the surgery.

In addition to general anesthesia, the use of a topical spray anesthetic for stabilizing and stiffening the skin may be desirable. The depth of planning can be readily gauged and the anesthetized area is momentarily bloodless. The superficial layers of skin are removed by an abrasive machine, usually known as the Dermabrader, or the sandpapering.

During and after planning, copious saline irrigations remove debris and allow for inspection.

Is It Right For Everybody's Skin?

Even if dermabrasion is one of the best surgeries needed to clear the skin from scars from acne and other skin problems, there are still some factors that need to be considered before jumping into conclusions. These factors are very important to take into considerations because not all skin type is created equal. Hence, the effects may vary.

Here are some of the factors that need to be considered before applying dermabrasion.

1. The skin colour

People who have dark skins tend to have permanent discoloration or blotchiness after the surgery. Therefore, it would be better not to opt of dermabrasion if the skin falls under this category.

2. The skin's condition

There are people who are born with sensitive skins. This means that their skins will immediately experience allergic reactions to some chemicals or treatments that the skin cannot endure.

In this manner, people who have sensitive skins should not resort to dermabrasions.

3. People who have acne that are on its active stage are not allowed for dermabrasion.

If the person has acne that is currently on its active stage, it is best not to try dermabrasion. This is because there is the danger of infection due to the freshness of the open skin. Ruptured or open skin will be easily penetrated by bacteria that cause infection.

This is also applicable for people who have burnt skin or those that have previously undergo chemical peel.

4. Be wary of people who perform dermabrasion.

Dermabrasion is actually a safe surgical treatment. However, it requires expertise and familiarity on the process in order to perform it properly.

Hence, dermabrasion should not be executed by people who still lack some of the required skills in the execution of the process.

5. There are skins that have the tendency to develop keloids or excessive benign growth of skin tissues.

This simply means that for people who usually develop a scar or keloid whenever their skin is damaged, chances are, they would develop the same thing when they undergo dermabrasion.

However, there are some treatments that can remove the scars and keloids, it would still be better to avoid such trouble of getting into another medication. Hence, for people who have skins that fall under this category, it is best not to try dermabrasion.

All of these things are boiled down to the fact that dermabrasion is not appropriate for everybody. Like the other treatments available in the medical field, it should also be analyzed with utmost care before jumping into decisions.

After all, it is the person's skin that will be put at risk and not just their money, so, careful consideration is extremely important.