Mohs Surgery: Q&A
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Why Use Vaseline After Mohs Surgery? Does It Keep the Wound "Soft" and Healing Better?
I have been advised after biopsies and Mohs surgery to use a thin layer of vaseline on the wound, but I have never understood why. Does is protect the wound or does it help the wound heal by keeping the area "soft" and therefore more comfortable for the patient (I mean with less itching or stretching).
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4 Doctor Answers |
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Laura1026
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How to Care for Wounds After Biopsies or Surgeries
It's an old wives' tale that you let the air get to a wound and let it scab up to help it heal faster. The truth is that if you keep the wound clean, moist and covered (covered to stay moist) it will heal quicker. A healing wound produces various products in the moist wound bed that help to stimulate wound healing and speed the recovery process. If the wound dries out, those products dry up as well and the wound takes longer to ultimately heal. Check with your doctor, but most dermatologists...
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Vaseline and ointments after surgery
I dont think the ointment has any inherent intrinsic value by itself. It serves to keep the area moist and optimizes the healing process. It also allows the sutures to be removed without trauma after the surgery.
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Let it scab is an old wives tale.
All wounds heal better if kept moist and will heal faster and with less scar if kept moist, rather than let a scab form. Any wound will finally heal, but creating a more optimal environment does make a difference. We used to tell people to keep the antibiotic ointments on for weeks and weeks but are now finding that lengthy exposure to those ointments tended to result in contact dermatitis to one of the antibiotic ingredients in the ointments. Simple occlusive ointments...
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Why keep sites moist after removals or surgery
The idea is to keep the area moist. I recommend Vaseline or preferably Polysporin (not Neosporin) after any removal or surgery. You need to keep the area clean with 1/2 peroxide and water, and keep any scabs or crusty areas off the site. The reason is that even though we were taught as youngsters that scabs are healing, actually scabs equate to scars. So keeping the area clean and moist allows new pink skin to form, and keeps scars to a minimum.
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