Small pox scars are a lot like Acne Scars. The pox scars can appear very differently in people. Depressed scars can be excised or they can be elevated and then resurfacing can then be done. Excision of the scars will likely need two stages. You would need to excise them at the first stage and then allow them to heal. At 6-8 weeks or later, we can then do the resurfacing procedure to smooth over the incision from the excision. If you want to do it in one stage, you can elevate the scars through punch excisional techniques where the depressed scar is incised completely around it and then elevated so that the skin is at the same level. Once this is done with all of the depressed scars you can then resurface the face or area at the same time. Results can be as good as the two stage approach. When the scars are raised, you can use resurfacing techniques to lower the raised portion and then the area can be healed over by the migrating cells. Hair transplantation can help but they can be placed in areas that you might not want hair located at. You have to make sure you don’t mind hair in the area that you transplant hair. With the above techniques you may not need hair transplantation given the excellent results that you can attain. Here is a live demonstration of my use of a co2 laser and laser resurfacing.
Dr Young is located in Bellevue near Seattle, Washington