Breast lift scars, why are they different colors? (Photo)

Thank you for your question. Skin that has had trauma can tend to darken, and that's what you are experiencing. I don't see any evidence that the areola has been sutured incorrectly. Embrace scar therapy is a wonderful option for scar lightening, Fraxel is also a great treatment that your surgeon may recommend.

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

The dark tissue along the upper portion of the vertical scar is retained areolar tissue. You look like you had fairly large areolar complexes prior to surgery.  Depending on your nipple position preop, sometimes the lift pattern needs to be made in such a way that there is a small amount of areola that cannot be removed at the initial surgery, as it would affect skin closure. At this point, the skin has healed and stretched enough that removal of this tissue can easily be done.  This could be done under local anesthesia in an office setting.  The lower portion of your scar looks good, and I would expect you to heal well from this.  I don't think scar gels/laser will work because it is areolar tissue more so than scar.  Best Regards.

Thank you for your excellent photos. The reason for the different colors to your scar is that the upper portion of the scar contains pigment from your areola. It appears that during your lift, your surgeon could not completely eliminate all the areolar pigment, from where the areola was moved. This happens occasionally, especially in patients who have large areola to begin with. This can be addressed by going back and excising the remaining areolar pigment from the scar, once the inframammary skin has had sufficient time to stretch out and relax. I recommend going back to your surgeon and expressing your concerns.

Dear kittykat9,scars usually improve and fade with time. You might benefit from laser treatment in order to improve your scars. If you are concerned, I suggest you to consult your plastic surgeon. Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

As scars mature over months to a year (from bright red to purple-y red to dull dark red), the quality of the scar usually improves.  There is almost always lightening of the scars.  If these continue to be an issue, scar revision is probably the most reliable option.  The color of the scar can be improved by a variety of modalities. 
Kenneth Hughes, MD, Board Certified Plastic Surgeon
Los Angeles, CA

The darker scar is residual areola pigmented skin.  Sometimes during breast lifting or reduction surgery, all of the excess areola skin (pigmented) cannot be removed, without distorting breast shape.  If this pigment is of concern, a secondary procedure can usually be performed ( I usually ask patients to wait six months to one year) without breast distortion.   In our practice, this excision is usually done under local anesthesia and is associated with a minimal recovery experience. Best wishes.

Hi and welcome to our forum!As the surgery was performed over a year ago, I think the scars are permanent. I recommend you return to your plastic surgeon as you may be a candidate for simple scar revision. 15% of cosmetic surgeries require a secondary touchup.Best wishes...