The search for the best scar treatment reveals an array of options. However, this search often confuses and frustrates those hoping to find the best scar treatment for overgrown and painful reminders of a wound or piercing. Sometimes raised, red/purple scars called keloids occur for reasons doctors can't explain.

Let's run down the four best scar treatments from least expensive to the most costly as cost is often the deciding factor.

You apply SILICONE GELS OR SHEETS directly to the scar. Silicone helps flattens and fade scars. Silicone also protects the scar from additional damage via the silicone barrier that forms over the scar tissue. The difference between sheets and gels is that Silicone gels stay put. Knees, elbows or shoulders flex, making it difficult for a sheet of silicone to stick. Silicone based scar products are the most affordable, pain-free, at-home scar removal option.

CORTISONE SHOTS into the scar are not as painful as they sound but they are expensive. These shots effectively flatten the scar. You will need to pay for treatments once a month, and bear in mind that cortisone stimulates red blood cells near the surface. This often makes the scar redder.

LASERS don't cause the redness, and also effectively flatten the scar. Insurance does not cover laser treatments unless they are deemed necessary by a doctor, so figure in the price of repeated sessions which can add up in a hurry.

SURGERY cuts away the scar, which often strikes patients as the best treatment. The scalpel only begins the process, which may also involve steroids shot directly into the surgical wound. Unfortunately, surgery can have an opposite effect, causing keloid scars to grow. No one knows why. This leads doctors to try radiation. Surgery can be a complicated, risky, and expensive choice.

Doctors using lasers, cortisone or surgery also use pressure patches to compress the scar. A doctor's best scar treatments do not come with guaranteed results.

Due to the cost and risk of surgery, most consumers tend to use a less evasive, less expensive scar treatment: silicone based scar products.