Laser Scar Removal After Breast Lift?

Scars are permanent....however, I feel that lasers and aggressive scar management after surgery can help minimize their appearance after surgery. Hydroquinone, pulse dye, fractionated CO2, broad band/intense pulse light lasers are all excellent modalities for helping scars vanish.

Seek the advice of your board certified plastic surgeon who I am sure has a protocol for post-operative scar treatments....I usually wait at least 1 year post-op.

Dr.C 

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

Thank you for your question. Breast incisions can be managed using a multimodal approach:
1) Scar massage - starting as soon as the surgical dressings come off and the incisions are sealed
2) Silicone sheets or scar gels for about six months to year
3) Embrace - a tension reducing dressing for the first 2 months
4) Fractionated lasers to help blend the scar into the background - done as a series, starting about 4 weeks after surgery and repeated every four weeks for six months.
5) Sunscreen to prevent the scars from darkening

Hello!  Thank you for your 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 are silicone sheets, hydration, and topical steroids. 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. 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 for a wonderful result!

There is no indication to laser a remodelling scar.  Almost always, breast scars become very inconspicuous after a lift given enough time.  This might actually be several years.   In the mean time, do not laser the scars.

There are several lasers available to improve the appearance of scars, but none of them will erase the scar. Normal scar healing occurs over 1 year or more, and it is difficult to predict the final appearance of your scar immediately after surgery. If your scars are unsightly, and depending on the specifics of the laser, it may be safe to use as early as several weeks out from your surgery.

 

Patients have multiple options for a scar revision after breast lift. If this card is wide and involves the lower portion of the breast, your plastic surgeon should evaluate your breast tissue to determine if there is enough laxity in the skin that will allow this scar to be cut out completely and replaced with a much thinner one. I would be very cautious about injecting a great deal of steroids into this area. Although steroids may help make the scar flatter, it is important that this tissue is not damaged by the steroids as this could lead to wound breakdown and a great deal of difficulty with wound healing.

Once the skin has been cut, the scar is permanent. A laser can help with improving the color of the scar and sometimes the firmness.

Rachaelann8:
Lasers are not capable of removing a scar. We use lasers to improve the appearance of a scar, not remove them. Lasers are probably most effective at removing the pink color from a recent or old scar. Lasers can sometimes smooth surface irregularities of a scar. Lasers may be able to improve excessive brown pigment from a scar.

You should wait until your plastic surgeon recommends treatment.

As plastic surgeons we have many tools to help us improve the appearance of scars and laser and light based therapies is one of them. Laser is particularly helpful for immature scars that are pink or slightly raised. Sun protection is also beneficial as is topical massage and silicone sheeting over breast scars.Surgery can also be used to revise scars to relieve tension, redirect, or reposition them to help make them less noticeable.The key word here is improvement, as removal is just not possible. Time and patience can be the best solution for many.Best of luck,peterejohnsonmd