Laser therapy is one of the newer treatments used to improve the appearance and feel of scars caused by serious burn injuries and to restore resulting loss of function. Despite its growing popularity as an alternative to intrusive and often painful corrective surgery, there is currently limited evidence of how effective it actually is.
As well as understanding how laser therapy works at a cellular level, our researchers are also investigating how it can be improved for future use, and whether lasers can act as a new way of delivering anti-scarring drugs.
The study is observing a group of patients with mature burn scars (over 1-year-old) to observe what happens to their scars as the result of laser therapy. This study will define what outcomes are important, test out scar assessment tools and explore what is happening at the skin cell level as a result of the laser treatment.
