Scar Clinic to treat NIV mask sores for post COVID-19 patients
Dr Gunasekar Vuppalapati, Chief Plastic Surgeon, CMD, GVG Invivo Hospital
Bengaluru: 'Scar Clinic' will be set up from November 1 2020, at GVG Invivo Hospital to help people with Non-Invasive Ventilator (NIV) pressure sores have a normal life post-COVID-19 treatment. More than 50 patients have registered for scar treatments during the pre-launch registration.
Due to the increasing COVID-19 cases, the hospital turned from anti-ageing hospital to an anti-COVID-19 hospital. As the number of COVID-19 case admissions are coming down, the hospital has decided to set up a 'Scar Clinic's a part of the post-COVID-19recovery clinic.
Dr Gunasekar Vuppalapati, Chief Plastic Surgeon, CMD, GVG Invivo Hospital said, "We have always stood for our patients helping them whenever they needed us. We dedicated our whole facility for the cause of COVID-19 and turned our Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Plastic Surgery hospital into a COVID-19 hospital when the patients needed us during the pandemic. Now they need us to help them get rid of the scars NIVs caused during COVID-19 treatment and we are getting ready to help them with that too. Once they approach us, we will ensure they will get the best treatment for their NIV scars."
"During the time when we are on COVID-19 service, we have observed that though they were cured of COVID-19, many patients are going home with pressure scars and were finding it hard to manage by themselves. Especially people with the sensitive skin and Fitzpatrick skin type 3 to 6 face more problem than others as the scars on their skin leads to a condition called Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation (PIH) where scars get more pigmented than necessary. Such cases need professional attention and must not neglect it as it affects how their face looks," he added.
However, doctor said that they are observing a dip in the admission of the number of COVID-19 case admissions past many days. So, we have decided to set up special scar clinic at our facility as a part of post COVID-19 Recovery Clinic to address the NIV mask scar problems faced by COVID-19 patients. Its only aim would be to help people manage scars caused by NIV pressure sores" he added.