How Long Does It Take the Scars to Heal After a Breast Lift? Can You Use Silicone Gel on It?

Incisions stay a little red, lumpy and bumpy for six weeks. Around that time they form a solid healing ridge. From this point, it takes about six months for the firm ridge to start to soften (this is known as the incision maturing). It will take about a year for darker-skinned patients and up to two years for fairer-skinned patients to know their incision’s final color – which might be darker, lighter or the same as the surrounding skin. 
I prefer that patients wait until six weeks after surgery before considering the use of a scar cream.

Thank you for your question. I always recommend Embrace, Scar Therapy about 3 weeks post op. Embrace is a silicone sheet that helps to reduce tension on the incision, and also helps to fade the scar over time. At our office, I assess the scar at 1 year post op as well to ensure patient satisfaction. If a patient tends to scar with more pigment, we perform a series of Fraxel treatments to address the removal of the pigment. 
Best of luck!

Scar
therapy with #scar maturation products, such as BioCorneum or Embrace,  is
recommended for at-home use. These may improve the appearance of scars with compliant use. Further, we suggest that you do not begin using the products immediately following your #surgery and wait until a few weeks later. To acquire the best information about your #post-procedure healing, it's best to speak and see your Plastic Surgeon for #personalized advice to suit your needs.

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 sealed2) Silicone sheets or scar gels for about six months to year3) Embrace - a tension reducing dressing for the first 2 months4) 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 darkeningThe main role for silicone sheets is to keep the incisions hydrated during the remodelling phase of the scar maturation. This allows the underlying cells to work in a more optimized fashion. The brand is less important but compliance usually follows ease of use. Silicone usually has less skin irritation concerns with use compared to adhesives. They can also be re-used. Scars will take months to a year to mature, and may even continue to under go changes after that.

Once you have your stitches/sutures removed, and the incisions are healed, you should be able to use any kind of scar treatment you desire. It is generally recommended to start the silicone scar sheeting at around 3 weeks post-op. Just remember, you will always have a scar, as it is an incision. While everyone heals at a different rate, the scars should be completely flattened and faded at about one year, keeping in mind that after a few months they will look considerably better than before.