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  • Scar Care and Sun Protection
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Dr. Rick here for not really another question, but I want to talk for a second about your scars and the sun and what do you need to do to protect your scars. You know, Arizona, very hot, we're always in the sunshine. I did a lot of research. I spent a year in the wound-healing lab and have learned a lot about scars, and so I do really try to educate patients about how to manage their scars and have them heal the best.

The one thing that I will tell you is that using sunscreen on your scars for up to one year after you've had the surgical procedure is very important because scars can become hyper-pigmented or darkly colored when they're susceptible to the sunshine. So even when you're wearing shirts, they're not totally U.V. protected. You want to make sure that you put sunscreen on your scars. And that's at least for the first year after your surgery. Really, that's all you need to do when you're in the sunshine. After that, things really will resolve with time and the scars will fade with time. But early on, within that first year, it's very important that you use sunscreen to protect your scars so that you don't get those big, dark scars across where you had your surgical procedure.

I hope that helps and I'll talk to you next time.

Scar Care and Sun Protection

Dr. Brown discusses keeping your scars covered and not exposed to sunlight for up to one year following treatment to prevent hyper pigmentation.