Best Scar Treatment After Full Tummy Tuck?

Your scar can be lowered so it is hidden beneath your panty- line and also at the junction of your pubic hair bearing area. Regarding the potential for a red raised scar please note the following advice that I recommend to my patient in these circumstances:Best Scar Management is important to minimize or completely hide from view, the tell tale signs of surgery – namely, scars. Both you and your surgeon want you to have the most minimal scarring possible from your surgery. Patients with scars that are enlarged or not healing well after surgery can be from many causes. Unsightly scars are most commonly due to genetics, underlying medical conditions or improper scar/wound care. The last part is very important and patients can make a noticeable difference in their scars’ appearance by following best scar management practices. Here are some simple tips.Scar Management tips:1- Minimize tension on the scar – Steri Strips and/or surgical tape are often placed in non-hair bearing areas to minimize tension and keep pressure over the scar. This minimizes the stress that can pull the scar apart (dehiscence) creating a wound and delaying healing time, and can make the scar wider, or more “ropy”.2– Keep your incision site/scar clean to prevent infection. Follow your surgeon’s wound care instructions to the letter with out modification. NEVER apply different products then recommended without first discussing them with your surgeon. This is especially important during the first few weeks. If there are any signs of infection contact your surgeon’s office immediately and/or see your doctor or his nurse immediately. Typical signs of infection may include redness outside the immediate incision site, asymmetric swelling, and drainage, of pus, fever, chills, and “feeling sick”.3. –Protect your scars from the sun - staying out of the sun is the best advice. Minimal exposure to sunlight is prevents hyperpigmentation (permanently turning brown) and other problems that can make the scar more noticeable. Sunscreen, at least 30 SPF and an overlying make camouflage make up additionally protects the scar from the suns harmful rays. This advice is especially important the first year following your surgery.4. – Use specific scar maturation products recommended by your surgeon. Patients seem to have their own opinions on this touting everything from Pure Vit E, Coco butter, to Aloe Vera, etc but most have minimal benefit other than keeping the scar hydrated. Although hydration is important there are better, scientifically studied products with greater efficacy. Most of the scientific articles written about this subject indicate that topical silicone gel or silicone sheets work the best. There are a lot of products to choose from, but silicone should be one of the key ingredients. Although Mederma, an onion extract derivative active ingredient rather than mainly silicone based may help, primarily silicone based products are better and many also contain other ingredients that may be synergistic (hydrocortisone or other steroid, Vitamin E, Sunscreen,etc). At the present time I prefer BioCorneum or Kelo-Cote products and if the reader has problems obtaining these they can call my office. Patient compliance is also critical – use often and according to directions or it will not work optimally. NEVER apply products without first discussing them with your surgeon.5. – Monitor to make sure your scar is progressing optimally. Keep your scheduled follow-up appointments with your surgeon to verify that your scars are maturing as expected. Occasionally if indicated you may need a topical steroid preparation or even a series of injections (5-FU and/or Steroids) or laser treatments to treat or prevent scar hypertrophy or keloid formation (red raised scars), or other topical medicines to treat post inflammatory hyperpigmentation (brown scars) with prescription creams and possible laser treatments.#tummytuck#TT#scarmanagement

There are some new scar gels which contain growth factors, which we have found to be very helpful in fading the scar.

An important question. Some patients are bothered by the idea of a scar and many dont mind the scar because its covered by the clothing and underwear they choose to wear. I tell patients who are not very concerned to use topical vitamin e becuase it is the most cost effective treatment for scars. For patients who want the best possible scar treatment, I recommend silicone sheets. In addition to topcial treatments, I recommend patients massage the scars as well to prevent thickening.
Best wishes,
Dr. Jan

Scars after any surgery are a trade off for the benefits of
the surgery. However, minimizing the scar is an important part of the
procedure. Certain things cannot be adjusted such as the patient’s genetics and
some patients simply are more prone to bad scars than other patients are.
However, things that can be done to reduce the risk of bad scarring would be a
meticulous surgical technique with closure under a reasonable degree of
tension. Obviously, with tummy tuck surgery the skin is pulled quite a bit
tighter than it is before the surgery and the pull of the repair can create
widen scarring in certain patients. With tummy tuck surgery I perform
multilayer closure to reduce the risk of scar widening and I ensure the patient
wear an abdominal binder and walk and sleep in a somewhat flexed position for a
week or two after surgery to help reduce the forces on scar. A new product that
came out relatively recently is called Embrace, which is a special type of
silicone sheeting that pulls tension possibly to reduce the forces that create
scar tissue. This has been scientifically shown in double-blinded randomized
studies to help with scarring. Generally, the Embrace would be started
approximately 2-3 weeks after surgery and dressing changes would be performed
once a week for a total of eight weeks. Other options after the fact also
include scar massage, the avoidance of ultraviolet light exposure such as
tanning booths or sun exposure and certain lasers can be used as well to reduce
redness or thickness of scar tissue. Finally, steroid injections are sometimes
necessary with patients with exceedingly raised scars. Best of luck with your surgery!

Thanks for the question. Generally, abdominoplasty involves a recovery period of longer than most plastic surgical procedures. It generally takes 3 weeks to get over the first phase of recovery. However, downtime for abdominoplasty can vary from patient to patient, depends on the size of the operated area of your body.The exact downtime will be determined by your surgeon according to your surgery results. I wish you all the best.

Thank you for your question regarding best scar treatment after a tummy tuck.  There will be some debate here for sure. The main ingredients for any scar treatment is silicone. This is proven through medical and scientific research. However, as to the selection of the product, there are many different very good products on the market today. There are several great products that I would suggest for optimal healing after a full tummy tuck. I would suggest Biocorneum silicone scar cream. I would suggest you apply twice a day to the scar. Also, I would suggest silicone tape, which you can find on the internet for a relatively low price. The silicone tape I recommend is made by Epiderm. The third product which works well for scar treatment is made by Gel Zone. Gel Zone has applied silicone tape to the undersurface of an Ace bandage. The gel zone bandage application is quite easy and helps to minimize scars. Another product that works very well is called the Embrace Scar system. Embrace covers the tummy tuck scar and maximizes silicone delivery to the scar. I have no financial interest in any of these products, but believe they are the best on the market. This is just my opinion as a board-certified Beverly Hills plastic surgeon.  If you have any other questions regarding scar treatment after a full tummy tuck, please contact my office.

Sincerely,

Dr. Katzen

The outcome of a scar can be optimized by good plastic
surgical technique when the the incision is repaired. Typically I use a seal of
of a specially formulated skin glue that remains in place for a month following
surgery. This provides an excellent environment for the skin incision to heal
in this critical early period. Following this treatment, topical scar
recovery gels and retinol can also improve the appearance of the scar. In addition,
silicone,either in the form of strips or a topical gel can help flatten scars. In patients with
darker skin tones, a bleaching cream is often necessary to diminish dark
pigmentation from the scar. And finally, a laser and/or IPL treatments might
also diminish the appearace of the scar.

It will be up to your surgeon where to place the scars from the tummy tuck, but it is good to talk with the surgeon together in planning the final appearance of both your results and scars so that you will be happy with their location. Make sure that your surgeon plans scar location so that surgery goes well, and you also have a right to request locations by your panties or bikini bottom so that they will be hidden once complete recovery is reached. There will also be plenty of options to care for scars post-op, such as massage or ointment, in a manner that will assist healing to the point of extremely reduced visibility.

There are an innumerable amount of over-the-counter products available for the treatment of scars. The two mainstay therapies that have been proven to be effective are; pressure dressings and silicone. Between these two options there is more evidence to support the use of silicone. Several studies demonstrate that treatment of scars with silicone clinically improve scars. There is no evidence to support the use on one silicone dressing over another. I advise patients to use scar cream once the scar is well healed and stable. On tummy tuck patients this is typically three weeks after surgery. I advise patients to use the cream until the scar matures; which occurs at about 1 year.

Hello! Thank you for the question! It is common for scars to fully mature for up to a year. In the meantime, there are a few things that may help to ameliorate your incision/scar. The most proven (as well as cheapest) modality is simple scar massage. Applying pressure and massaging the well-healed scar has been shown to improve the appearance as it breaks up the scar tissue, hopefully producing the finest scar as possible. Other things that have been shown to add some benefit, albeit controversial, are silicone sheets, hydration, and topical steroids. These can usually be started at approximately 3-4 weeks postop and when incisions healed. In addition, avoidance of direct sunlight to the incision will significantly help the appearance as they tend to discolor with UV light during the healing process. Scars will never disappear, but attempt is made to make the finest scar in a concealed location. If unsightly scars are still present after approximately a year's time, other things that your surgeon may consider are intralesional steroid injections, laser, or just surgical revision of the scar itself. Hope that this helps! Best wishes!