Almost 6 months post reduction surgery. Should I treat this hypertrophic scar now? (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

Your scars show some areas of mild hypertrophy. This can be treated with steroid injections, but these should be done judiciously. If steroids are used when not necessary, they could cause the opposite problem with thinning of the skin and atrophy of the underlying fat. As you have indicated that you are happy with your surgical outcome and care, I would favor trusting your surgeon and following his advice, allowing him to determine the need and timing for further treatment.

It takes time for scars to heal completely. Sounds like the aftercare your surgeon is providing is very good. Therefore, I would recommend you to follow his instructions and you will see the improvement soon.

Thank you for your question.
The incisions are healing nicely. Continue the the scar gel and massage. Give it more time and check in with your surgeon for guidance. Best wishes!

I would intervene now. I suggest using a scar system that involves silicone. My patients use the Ogee Scar System and I have them start 3 weeks after surgery by massaging the incision with the silicone gel twice a day for two minutes and then wear the silicone strips at night. They do this for one year. Massage is so vital for getting a good scar.

Generally it's recommended to wait a full year from surgery before considering scar revision. However in the meantime there are other interventions you can use to improve the appearance of scars. You are already using silicone gel but you can also consider laser treatments or even microneedling (SkinPen) for improvement.

My recommendation for mild hypertrophic scars is silicone sheeting.
If you can’t tolerate silicone, it’s best to just wait.
Scars can take 12 to 18 months before their mature.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD