Inclusion Criteria:  partial or full-thickness burns that healed spontaneously or required skin grafting with hypertrophic scars on the right and left sides of the same body part  Exclusion Criteria:  Patients with open wounds or infection on the burn scars those taking steroids for the scars with allergies to topical anesthetic cream those who were pregnant undergoing any other medical treatment or condition affecting wound healing (e.g., diabetes)