I had a surgery to remove a synovial cyst on my hand. May I use silicone gel on?

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 recommend following the after care protocols your Dr. provided. I do recommend silicone gel with growth factors to help minimize scarring. See an expert. Best, Dr. Emer

Dear Hanna1908, You can certainly try silicone gel on the scar. Typically you want to wait about 6 weeks before putting any scar treatment on an incision. Since it is on your hand it may be difficult to apply the gel during the day (due to handwashing etc) so I would recommend using it at night. Another option might be silicone sheeting. This is an adhesive sheet that you apply to the scar that helps the incision to fade more quickly, and the compression of the sheeting sticking to your skin may be preferable for you since it will help to prevent the scar from becoming too raised. I would also do this at night (for about 12 hours). New Gel is brand that we recommend to our patients for both gel and sheeting. Good luck!

You are best to ask your surgeon what he prefers as there are many ways to treat scars. Some work ok and others do not all.