Even though Anna Janiszewska's severe burn injury has healed, she feels the devastating impact of the long scar extending from her face down to her stomach every day.

“I felt like the skin is pulling, especially on the chest,” Anna says. “I am constantly hinged forward, because the damaged skin is pulling me forward.” This has made working on her feet all day as a Toronto-based hairstylist excruciatingly difficult.

Anna suffered extensive burns when the ethanol-fuelled, tabletop firepot in her living room exploded while she was trying to light it.

Now she sometimes wakes at night with blood-stained sheets from having scratched her itchy skin in her sleep. And then there is the emotional toll of having a red, aggressive-looking mark covering a significant portion of her body.

But all that is about to change as Sunnybrook's Ross Tilley Burn Centre has become the first adult burn centre in Canada to treat severe burn scars with a specialized laser.

Brought to Sunnybrook with the help of generous donor funding, the laser works by inducing perforations into the skin including the thick and stiff collagen bands of scar tissue. As the scar reheals, the skin is essentially remodelled to be looser, lighter and more flexible.

Anna is grateful to be part of a small group of people receiving specialized laser treatment for their scarring at Sunnybrook.

“So far, every patient has had a remarkable response,” says Dr. Marc Jeschke, director of the Ross Tilley Burn Centre. He adds that patients have been able to sleep better at night, move their heads or hands more easily, experience less pain and generally just feel — and look — more like themselves.

As for Anna, she has already noticed a difference since receiving her first treatment. “My scar is definitely a little lighter, because my scars were really red,” she says, excited to embark on her path to recovery.