I had my arm lift 4 months ago. My scar is still red/purple and raised. Will it flatten? (Photos)

This type of scarring is very common after arm lift. It's only been 4 months so you're going to have to work to flatten it and get a better result. The approach includes compression with silicone sheets. Massage is important too. Continue to follow up with your plastic surgeon at 18 months total.Best wishes, Dr. Aldo

Hi Abbgirl99, Thank you for your question regarding your arm lift or brachioplasty scar.  Unfortunately, it appears that you have a keloid. A keloid scar is basically excessive scar tissue. The result is a scar that is raised and red--much like your scar. In my experience,  the best treatment for these arm keloids would be injection of steroids. Steroid injection will help to minimize the build up of excessive scar tissue. To minimize the arm scar, you may require several steroid injections. In addition, I would suggest wearing arm compression garments.  Arm compression garments will help to flatten the scar.  I would conscientiously wear this for six weeks.Also, I would apply silicone cream and silicone tape daily to the arm scars.   Silicone will help to minimize the arm scar. Another alternative is to use a V-beam laser. A V-beam laser helps to break up scar tissue like this. You may require several treatments for optimal results. and silicone tape. If there is no significant improvement with these multiple modalities, you may require surgical revision.  I hope this answer helps. If you have any further questions regarding arm lift, brachioplasty, or arm lift scar revision, please contact my office. Sincerely, Dr. Katzen.

It is always difficult to know exactly what a scar will look like when it is fully matured. I think in your case you can expect quite a bit of flattening and improved color change. You should consider asking your plastic surgeon whether they think silicone gel or some other treatment may be helpful.

Thank you for the photos.  It does appear from the photos that you have posted that you have what we call hypertrophic scars.  This can at times happen, especially with the arm lift surgery.Given that you are 4 months out, it may be early enough to attempt steroid injections.  There are injections that your surgeon would perform in the office.  In addition, I would also recommend silicone tape placement to the scars for up to 1 years time.At 1 year you can assess your scar further.  If you are still unhappy with them, then you may consider re-excision and more aggressive and earlier treatment with steroids, compression and silicone tape placement.Good luck.

From your pictures, it looks like you may have either hypertrophic scarring, possibly keloid. If this is the case, then steroid injection may help. Some types of lasers can help with scarring that are regular scars. All scars go through phases of remodeling, but your pictures suggest the possibility of excessive scarring. See your plastic surgeon, certainly they can make the clear diagnosis.Have you had any other surgeries, piercings or scars? If they reacted similarly, the diagnosis is more clear. 

Be patient.  Scars take around 18 months to go through their maturation phase during which time they will gradually fade and flatten.  I advise my patients to use silicon gel products to help with minimise the appearance of scars over time.

Hi abbgirl99,This is a really common problem seen after arm lifts. This area is especially prone to thick raised scars. The best improvement I have obtained for my patients is by using steroid injections along the length of the raised scar. This usually takes a series of injections to see the maximum benefit. Contact your surgeon and he/she should be able to provide you that treatment. As mentioned by others you can also wear silicone strips on the scar or apply creams such as Biocornium which contains silicone. Good luck!Dr. Robert Pollack

brachioplasty or arm lift scars often heal with thickened or hypertrophic scars. These inner arm scars will continue to mature for 12-16 months after your surgery . Scar massage ,topical silicone sheeting and topical scar reduction products can often help lessen the appearance of these scars . Time and patience are important as well.

Scars heal very differently in patients even for the same operation and vary from minimal scarring through hypertrophic to keloid scars.  Your scars do not appear to have grown outside the original incision lines and so are probably hypertrophic rather than keloid.  Hypertropic scars are quite common and can be treated by a number of methods.  The use of silicone sheeting, silicone oils, pressure garments, steroid injection and lasers can all help.  Hypertrophic scars will tend to flatten and pale with time but may also stretch a bit.  Your plastic surgeon will be able to give you advice on how to best manage your scars.  Best wishes. 

Thank you for your question and photos. It is NOT UNCOMMON to develop hypertrophic scars after a brachioplasty. Be patient, it can take up to a year for scars to fully mature. Few simple steps you can take is to aggressively massage your scars and to apply silicone sheets on your scars. Other things that can be done is steroid injections and laser treatments. Good luck. DrMaz