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Face lift: Bhojpuri actor Subah Singh | Andheri actor's face was burnt in a freak balloon explosion in December
When a freak accident burnt one side of a Bhojpuri actor Subah Singh's face at a party in December, she was terrified that her career was over. "My work is after all linked to my appearance. I couldn't even look in a mirror for weeks after the accident, because I was too scared to see what had happened," said the 28-year-old Lokhandwala resident.
No scars
Today, however her face bears no scars of the injury as her body's building blocks came to her rescue. In order to save her skin, doctors skipped the usual procedure of a graft and instead opted to culture her stem cells and then apply the same to the wounds helping new skin to grow minus the scarring.
The accident happened at Singh's home in December when 1,500 balloons from a film's premiere were brought to her house by her driver. "He thought it would be a nice idea for my puppy to play with them and also for house parties. However, when friends came over, one person lit a cigarette and then the hydrogen-filled balloons exploded. It was louder than a cylinder blast," said Singh, who is still nursing her hand that sustained third degree burns.
Skin cell regeneration that is popular in the West now, is slowly gaining interest in the city for its efficacy.
Plastic surgeon Dr Ajit Kadam, who operated on Singh, said that with the regular grafting procedure, the daily maintenance would not only be taxing but also expensive. "The treatment and hospitalisation in a 40 to 50 per cent burns case goes on for more than two months. To avoid infection antibiotics and daily dressing is a must.
The cost is more than Rs 3,000 to 5,000 per day. Here, Singh was ready to go home in barely 20 days and her skin is as good as new," he added.
| Stem cell skin therapy |
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Skin regeneration therapy with the help of stem cells is gaining currency in a city that is currently grappling with the lack of skin donors.
According to the Airoli Burns Centre, which is currently looking to develop its own in house laboratory to culture cells, the average number of skin donations they receive in a month is only two.
In the therapy autologuos, stem cells are derived from your own body, either from bone marrow or peripheral blood. From these epithelial cells they are separated in the lab and used as direct application on the burn wound.
Once applied there is no need of daily dressings because a scab is formed and new cells keep generating, reducing scarring.
Donors required
Mumbai currently sees approximately 1,000 patients annually who require two donors each for skin grafting. | | 
