Scar healing: Silagen vs Embrace Scar therapy. Which is better?

Thanks for the great question. I feel there is a lot of confusion and misinformation abounding about how to optimize scar appearance. By far the most important factor determining how scars ultimately appear when mature is unfortunately predetermined by your individual genetics. Since there’s nothing you can do about your preset scarring propensity, there are fortunately things that your plastic surgeon and you can do to help optimize the ultimate appearance. 
On your surgeon’s end, using meticulous technique - how the incision is made, using gentle retraction and handling the skin gently during surgery, multilayered closure using the deep layers to take tension off of the skin and properly everting the skin edges - are just some of the methods that allow plastic surgeons to routinely get the best looking scars. 
For things that you can do, there are really only two scientifically validated ways to improve scarring: silicone therapy and UV/sun protection. Silicone tapes/gels/sheeting have a long track record for doing helping with scar maturation and the length, location and mobility of the tissue all determine which silicone product will be easiest to use. Generally you can’t go wrong with a gel though. There are several different gel products available with silicone, Silagen and Biocorneum are two of the most popular - our office sells both. Personally, I prefer Biocorneum since it has several SPF agents included in the gel which is convinient since shielding healing and maturing scars from UV rays is the single most important thing you can do to improve scar appearance (although with an incision under your breast sun exposure likely isn’t a concern - unless you use tanning beds which I doubt). 
I’ve left the topic of Embrace last since it’s very expensive, doesn’t have the same track record as silicone or UV protection and hasn’t been scientifically proven to improve scarring. Plus, with proper surgical and suturing technique like I mention above, the detensioning and eversion provided by the embrace device can be incorporated into the tissues closure anyways. 
So save yourself some money and go with either Silagen or Biocorneum and shield the incision from the sun and UV rays. I hope this helps. Best of luck!(Also any “scar” gels or creams that don’t contain silicone - Vitamin E, mederma, etc - have never scientifically been shown to have a benefit on scarring so are also a waste of time and money)

There are many effective scar therapies on the market.  We have seen good success using Embrace Scar Therapy System.  I encourage you to speak with your surgeon to see what is best for you.

I have been recommending silage for over a year with very reasonable results. Use silicone sheeting and gel. follow the directions.

Hi! Thanks for asking this question! Use Embrace! I have found my patients who use Embrace have the best incisions. It is worth the expense! Also check with your surgeon to see what he/she suggests. Good luck to you! 

Embrace works very well, but is very $$, can cause some rashes while you are wearing it. Moral of the story, the more time your scar is exposed to the silicone in whatever form will lead to a better scar.