Posted May 27, 2012 in Blog, Uncategorized
Congratulations to the Los Angeles Kings for advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals! It has come to our attention after enjoying ice hockey for many years that there is a propensity toward facial lacerations, broken noses, and loss of teeth.
The best treatment for a facial laceration is different for National Hockey League players as compared to the general population. In ice hockey, the goal is to get the wound repaired as quickly as possible and to get the player back into the game immediately. In general, lacerations should be cleaned, debrided, and sutured to maximize the best healing with minimization of future scarring.
The wound should be kept clean, and in most cases the sutures (stitches) are removed from facial injuries at five days after the repair. Steri-strips are applied across the wound to minimize tension, decreasing the chance noticeable scar formation. Once the stitches are out, either Vitamin E oil or Aloe Vera (preferably from a living plant leaf) should be applied to the wound two to three times a day for a few weeks (if there is any redness or irritation from this then it should be discontinued). Within a week, Fraxel restore erbium laser treatment can begin. There are usually about 3 to 4 quick and easy laser treatments separated by 2-3 weeks. There is no downtime. The laser treatments end when we can’t find the scar anymore. This is effective even for some older scars, say after the better team wins the Stanley Cup, and the season is over.
King defenseman Alec Martinez appeared to suffer a nasal fracture in the last game against the Phoenix Coyotes, playing the remainder of the game with packing in his nostrils. Kudos to Alec, it’s not easy to breath, let alone skate up and down the rink at full speed. Hopefully it was a non-displaced fracture. For those of you not vying for the Stanley Cup, after a nasal fracture we recommend that you be evaluated by a nasal surgeon to make sure that there is not a septal hematoma (internal bleeding within the nose in the septum which is really the only time that immediate surgical intervention is indicated). If there is no swelling and the nasal bones are obviously displaced, the nasal bones can be reset immediately by manipulating them into place. In the great majority of cases, there is significant swelling in which case the nose should be re-evaluated in about 5 days at which time it can be determined if the bones need to be placed back into their normal position. In the meantime, we recommend elevation of the nose above the heart (sleep on 3 to 4 pillows), use baggies of frozen peas on the nose for the first two days, and unlike our hockey players, avoidance of exertion, lifting, or exercising.
Persky Sunder Plastic Surgery wishes good luck to both the New Jersey Devils and our Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Finals beginning this week. We hope that the best team prevails, that all of the players remain healthy without injury, and that neither team will need any of the treatment advice given in this blog entry. Go Kings, Go!
Dr. Michael Persky and Dr. Sarmela Sunder are located in Encino, California and Beverly Hills, California (The Lasky Clinic) but service all of Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. Including, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Hancock Park, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills and more. Please subscribe to our blog by clicking the link above, right. Thank you!
