How to get rid of red and raised breast reduction scars?

I had a breast reduction & lift 15 months ago. I am very pleased with the way my breast look now except for the scars. The scars seemed to be healing very well after three months until I went to a tanning salon ( I was not told not too). Now the scars appear very red and somewhat raised. I have tried the mederma cream and it has not done anthing to the appearance. What treatment or proceudre should I consider?

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8 answers to “How to get rid of red and raised...”

A: Lots of options to improve the appearance of scars

Shahram Salemy, MD

What you are describing does happen from time to time after breast reduction surgery, but there are a few things that can be done to improve their appearance, including scar massage, silicone ointment or sheets, and steriod injections.  There is also the surgical option of a scar revision, but I would... more

A: Silicone sheeting

Robin T.W. Yuan, MD

Silicone sheeting is a low risk, low cost treatment that gives reasonable results for since scars. If ineffective, you can go to laser treatment which has certain additional risks and is naturally more expensive.

A: Ask your surgeon for additional measures

Francisco Canales, MD

Scars will continue to mature for up to 2 years, so you may still see some improvement even if you didnothing.  I agree that silicone sheeting has helped many of our patients.  Individual strips can be expensive. Some of our patients have found a website www.silon.com  that has larger sheets cut... more

A: Other things to try

Scott E. Kasden, MD

If the scars are raised and red, you may want to try Post Balm, other people have benefitted from silicone sheeting. I also recommend a discussion with you surgeon regarding very dilute injections with Kenalog (steroid).   sek

A: The main side effect of reduction surgery

Michael S. Beckenstein, MD

What you most likely have are hypertrophic scars, that are raised and red,.They may itch or burn as well. scars usually mature around 18 months from surgery which is close to where you are now. Scar treatments early on do help, but you are probably not going to receive much benefit now.   Your surgeon can... more

A: Hypertrophic scars can do well with combination therapy

Michael Weinberg, MD

Hypertrophic scars need multimodal therapy to try and improve them. I use silicone gel sheeting as a frist line treatment. If this does not seem to be helping then I use a synthetic steroid injection. In addition I use a laser to take out some of the redness. If the scars are on a bra line then I... more

A: Raised Red scars from breast reduction

Otto Joseph Placik, MD

Managment of hypertrophic scars requires that they be distiguished from keloids which continue to grow well beyond the borders of the original incision. It sounds as if you have hypertrophic scars which can grow for a period of 2 years after surgery. In the meantime scar management modalities... more

A: Red scars can take more time to mature

William B. Rosenblatt, MD

Healing is an individual thing. Usually scars mature in less than a year, but they can take many years for the reddness and thickness to go away. You need to see your surgeon and let them decide what is the best thing to do.

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