Dr. Kenneth Hughes, Los Angeles plastic surgeon, sees patients every week who want to have revision surgery to correct contours and scarring. Sometimes, the scars are wide. Sometimes the scar’s pigmentation does not blend well with the rest of the skin. Sometimes the scars are hypertrophic. Sometimes, the scars are keloid scars, which grow outside the original boundary of the scars.
Scars are largely a function of the patient’s ability to heal. Whenever Dr. Kenneth Hughes of Hughes Plastic Surgery has a revision patient who is complaining about the scars from the first surgery, he makes it very clear that poor scarring cannot necessarily be overcome. This does not mean that the other surgeon committed medical malpractice simply because the scars were not optimal. Dr. Kenneth Hughes, as the doctor and surgeon, will close the incisions perfectly, but the healing process can always go awry. Sometimes it is the genetic predisposition of the patient to form poor scars. Those cases can be particularly frustrating for the plastic surgeon and patient alike, as there may not be a solution. Sometimes patients do not take appropriate measures during healing and recovery that are necessary for optimal results. It is very important that patients understand that their role is paramount in this instance. This does not mean that the patient was botched or that there was malpractice.
So in short bad scarring is not the result of bad surgery. Similarly, good scarring is not the result of good surgery. Dr. Kenneth Hughes hears that one a lot as well. A patient will comment that the first plastic surgeon did a wonderful job with the surgery because the scar healed well. Dr. Hughes chuckles at this comment as well as the statement is an unbelievable oversimplification. Similarly, Dr. Kenneth Hughes does not to take credit when his patients compliment him for their nice scars.
To learn more about Dr. Kenneth Hughes, Harvard-trained, board-certified plastic surgeon in Los Angeles, please visit
https://www.hughesplasticsurgery.com/los-angeles-kenneth-hughes/
To see before and after photos of Dr. Kenneth Hughes, please visit https://www.hughesplasticsurgery.com/los-angeles-before-after-photos/
To contact Dr. Kenneth Hughes’s office, please visit
https://www.hughesplasticsurgery.com/contact-los-angeles-plastic-surgeon/