The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) released the results of its annual Global Survey on Cosmetic Procedures and they totalled 14.9 million surgical and 18.8 million non-surgical procedures performed worldwide. From dramatic facelifts to the most imperceptible of ‘tweakments’ aesthetic enhancement surgery is still very big business.

Surgery, whether for cosmetic or rehabilitation purposes, is a major life event. Undergoing the procedure itself and then navigating the ensuing downtime and recovery thereafter, creates significant life upheaval. Medical professionals and their patients are continually focused on new technologies to lessen downtime, aid recovery and heal post-operative scarring in the most effective and quickest way possible.

A vital part of the body’s innate physiological repair process, inflammation triggers your immune system, instructing cells to accumulate around the injured or traumatized site and a scar is formed.

For scar tissue to heal in the optimum way, three things need to happen; there should be sufficient oxygenated blood flow to the area, healing fibroblast cells must migrate to the wound site and cytokines must be triggered to bring inflammation back down again once it’s done its essential job. Redness, bruising and intense inflammation are necessary yet temporary stages in post-surgical recovery but scarring, if not managed well can become long-established, even permanent.

After about a month, the remodeling stage occurs; this is the biological process of changing the scar from a raised, red scar into a soft, flat scar. This can take years and is why scars can become less noticeable over time.

The formation of a healthy and smooth scar relies on cellular energy production. Fibroblasts are effectively the engines driving the skin’s cellular energy production. Powered-up, efficient, fibroblasts are essential for the successful and complete proliferation of wound healing. Without optimized fibroblasts, the skin will struggle to accumulate the necessary material to form the scar tissue in the first place, and wound healing can become protracted and ineffective. An unsuccessful proliferation phase will lead to a more obvious keloid scar that is likely to be darker in color and more textured, and is more likely to spread beyond the original trauma site.

So how best to help skin recover quickly after surgery, accelerate the natural wound healing process and safeguard against scar tissue? Cosmetic surgeons say the future lies in patients treating themselves daily at home with cold laser technology.

Dr Dan Belkin, board-certified cosmetic dermatologist and plastic surgeon with the New York Dermatology Group (and the reason behind Martha Stewart blatantly defying the aging process) explains, “Low-level laser therapy has been shown to do three things in the skin that can help with post treatment recovery following an ablative laser treatment or a surgery.

The first is that it increases blood flow.

The second is that it increases fibroblast migration and stimulation in the area, which is the type of cell that creates the structure of your skin and which you need in wound healing.

The third thing is that it reduces inflammatory cytokines, which are cellular messengers in the skin.”

The LYMA Laser is a world leading technology in accelerating the remodeling of scar tissue. This near-infrared 500mW low-level laser therapy delivers powerful monochromatic, coherent and polarized laser light, making it fully capable of stimulating bio-transformational cellular renewal. The LYMA Laser works by regenerating the skin cells, aiding micro circulation and smoothing scar tissue. Skin’s innate reparative processes are supported and post recovery accelerated. The result is skin that more closely resembles the skin around the site of the incision.

How the LYMA Laser technology can reduce scarring and accelerate skin post recovery:

• Increases blood flow
• Increases fibroblast migration & stimulation
• Calms inflammation
• Reduces the chances of a scar forming
• Penetrates right to down to muscle layers to stimulate a healing response

The LYMA Laser is just as effective on newly formed post-operative scars as it is on established scar tissue that’s decades old, so it’s never too late to heal your scar and improve its appearance. What’s more, patients can rebuild their fragile post-operative skin daily, from their own homes.

“The LYMA Laser is an incredible tool to reduce redness and speed up recovery,” says Dr Belkin.

“After surgery, I tell patients they can start the LYMA Laser right away because we know that it increases blood flow to the area, it increases fibroblast stimulation for that wound healing response and it reduces inflammation in the area, so that you're reducing the risk of having a hypertrophic or keloid scar or an overly inflamed and red scar.”

Using a laser on red raw, hyper fragile skin might make some post-op patients nervous but Dr Belikin assures the LYMA Laser rebuilds skin in a zero damage way. “Low-level laser therapy has been shown to stimulate wound healing and recovery from invasive procedures including laser resurfacing, cosmetic surgeries like face lifts and chemical peels.”

“The LYMA Laser is safe to use on any skin type, any skin color, even skin recovering from surgery, so there's really no person that I wouldn't recommend this to.” - Dr Dan Belkin, New York Dermatology Group

From Manhattan’s top dermatologists to LA’s most celebrated plastic surgeons, the world’s leading doctors are choosing LYMA laser technology. In an industry that continues to move and evolve at a blinding pace, expectations become ever higher, with clients wanting flawless skin results but with as little disruption to their lives as possible. Direct from the clinics and doctors’ offices, LYMA is delivering transformative results with no pain, no damage and no downtime.

“The unmatched power of LYMA’s laser technology is reimagining the world of aesthetics - treating the untreatable to deliver transformative results that defy belief. The LYMA Laser can be used effectively on all types of scars - including keloid, acne scars and cesarean scars - and works on all skin types and tones.

No matter how dark your skin is, the LYMA Laser can help to eliminate scarring effectively and safely and with zero pain or side-effects,” says LYMA Founder Lucy Goff.

The LYMA Laser is a revolutionary way to texture and appearance of keloid scarring from the comfort of home. Using the LYMA Laser for just three minutes per day, over each section of the scar, for two months has been shown to render the scar almost invisible.

By combining the LYMA Laser with the rest of The LYMA System (Oxygen Mist and Serum), and holding the device still for just three minutes per day, over each section of the scar, helps to accelerate the remodeling process in all layers of the skin by increasing supply of nutrients, improving circulation and speeding up the repair process and can dramatically improve the scar’s look and feel.

Post-operative scar tissue might previously have been inevitable and remain for life but now with the proven technology behind the LYMA Laser, it’s fully possible to evade scar tissue and reverse even the most established of existing scars. With the LYMA Laser, the science and innovation is finally here to treat the untreatable.