Surgical Scar on Jawline. Any suggestions? (photos)

Plastic surgery scars require attention after surgery so that they remain cosmetically-appealing and barely noticeable. In our office, we use a protocol for scars that minimizes their activity in the 6-8 weeks after surgery. If you have late plastic surgery scars, you may also require laser and RF therapy to help reduce the longterm effects of the scarring. Keloids, hypertrophic scars, widened scars, red scars, and hyperpigmented scars all require scar modulation with topical creams followed by lasers and RF therapy. Topical skincare should be directed to a specific need, whether for pigmentation or hypertrophy and our office can guide you through the process to obtain the correct Plato’s Scar cream or Melarase cream for hypertrophy and discoloration. In terms of lasers, we would employ the vbeam laser for redness, Venus Viva RF, PRP microneedling, chemical peels, and Morpheus 8, fractional erbium, or fractional co2. All of these have their individual benefits. Most of all, we recommend you visit a solid plastic surgeon who understands surgical scar revision, laser therapy, and RF therapy for scars.

Best,
Dr. Karamanoukian
Realself100 Surgeon

I would suggest an in person consultation with an expert for evaluation. Hypertrophic scarring should be treated in a combination approach with lasers along with steroid/5fu injections. Please see an expert. Best, Dr. Emer

I would recommend starting with a vascular laser such as the Vbeam pulsed dye laser to reduce redness and improve appearance. This can be combined with or followed by in subsequent session a fractional laser - either ablative or non-ablative depending on physician assessment. Intralesional injections of 5-fluorouracil can be used on any thick areas. There are many treatment options and I think very significant potential for improvement in these scars - I encourage you to seek treatment. During this time you can continue to use silicone - there are a number of clear silicone gel products available such as Biocorneum.

Thank you for your question.  I carefully studied your photo and believe you would benefit from treating this surgical scar with a two-tier approach.  The first step is a series of injections to flatten the scar with a mixture of kenalog and 5-FU. These injections should be spaced about 4 weeks apart and require a few treatments. Once the scar is flat, I recommend using a vascular laser which will seal the blood vessels, stimulate your collagen and decrease the redness. Similar to the injections of kenalog and 5-FU, you will require a few treatments, usually 4-6 weeks apart.  I believe this is the best approach to minimize any risk of additional scarring. Good luck,Dr. Ariel Ostad MD PC