I have a nasty burn scar on my hand, how should I treat it?

Some DUers might remember me as a lonely Arizona State student asking how I should go about making some friends. I'm not from here, and came during the Spring semester, so I kind of felt like the odd man out in a lot of ways.

Well, I thought I had made some decent friends, until this happened.

I was camping with these people during Spring Break last year, and we were all sitting around a campfire drinking a few beers. It started out harmless enough.

Then this one girl thought it would be tremendously funny if she took a burning stick and burned my hand with it. I was pretty out of it, so my reflexes were not what they could have been. The skin was literally bubbling, it was horrific.

Of course, all my "friends" there told me what happened the next day (making it very clear I was assaulted), and as I was told, enjoyed *laughing* about it on the way back. These days, they either "can't remember" what happened or they remember me "burning myself" somehow, probably because they realized I was going to sue the hell out of her. So I have no witnesses, and thus no charges, but that's beside the point. (Although some sort of justice would sure be nice)

It's been about 9 months or so, and while it's not nearly as bad as it was, the wound on the back of my left hand (about the size of a nickel) is still a dark pinkish hue in some places (and white in others). It is more wrinkled than the rest of my hand, and I saw a couple of different dermatologists regarding this.

The first one gave me this lotion called Mederma (which contains, among other things, onion extract). He told me to keep putting it on my hand, and avoided my question of "will my hand look normal again?" I eventually decided he was a quack, as Mederma didn't work, the copay during each visit was ridiculous, and they blasted Rush Limbaugh at the office all the time.

The second doctor, this guy from Toronto, told me what I already knew - Mederma was a waste of money and did nothing. He said I should get some kind of treatment, and avoid exposing the scar to the sun, as the wrinkles made that part of my hand more susceptible to skin cancer. He gave me another cream, something called Renova, but confessed he wasn't sure if that would work, either. He also said I could get plastic surgery, but that would leave a scar as well. I asked "will it ever look like my right hand?" and he simply said "No." He also mentioned that it usually takes a year before one can tell what it's going to look like, as it is still healing up to that point.

So I've been putting Renova and Vitamin E cream on the scar. I can't tell yet if it's working.

All I want is for my hand to look normal again, or failing that, the closest thing. Not only is this physically scarring but it severely bothers me to look at it, and I feel like I have to hide it wherever I go. I'm contemplating skin grafts or surgery, but those options would be a last resort. Do any DUers know any treatments that could help?

DU is not the appropriate place to obtain or dispense medical advice.

Please consult a health care practitioner.

Thank you.

DU Moderator.