What Can I Do About This Ugly Scar? This is TERRIBLE!!!!!!

Question

I did two years of research before having abdominoplasty. I asked all the right questions, and 5 years later look at this scar!!!! My surgeon assured me he used stitches not staples, and told me that I would have to wait until around two years for scar to fade. Not only do i have this wide scar from him using staples, i have a scar from EACH staple he used. Its not fair that I would have to pay 3500 for a scar revision. Should he correct this horror that he calles a tummy tuck!

Raffy Karamanoukian, MD, FACS · Answer

If you have a dark or pigmented or red scar from a tummy tuck, a combination of Melaquin AM and Melaquin PM, followed by interval pulsed dye laser will help the scar.

Kenneth Dembny, II, MD · Answer

Small scars can result at the site where a staple end pokes the skin, or where an external suture travels through the skin. For this reason, a buried suture is used for the final layer of the skin closure to minimize scarring.

	Despite our best efforts, scar widening can occur following a tummy tuck, even when buried skin sutures are used. So I do not think that you can definitively say that your widened scar is the result of a skin closure with staples. There is no doubt, however, that the small circular scars have been caused by the staples.

	Individual physicians handle re-operative costs differently.  The type of complication/adverse event, the causes or circumstances surrounding such an event, the time frame in which it occurred post-operatively, the setting in which the revision occurs, and any specific written policies the physician has would be some of the considerations affecting what costs are passed on to the patient for re-operations. I would agree that $3500 seems expensive for a scar revision of this nature. You should discuss the specific details with your surgeon.

	Your scar also looks hyperpigmented (darkened). Any scar revision will carry similar risks. Sun protection, and the use of a skin bleacher, may help to reduce post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Best wishes.

Richard Dale Reynolds, MD · Answer

Most plastic surgeons don't use skin staples for this reason. If it were my patient, I would revise this under local for no charge so you have a good result and refer other patients.

What Can I Do About This Ugly Scar? This is TERRIBLE!!!!!!

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What Can I Do About This Ugly Scar? This is TERRIBLE!!!!!!

Answers (3)

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Everything you need to know about Scar Removal

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.