Is it too early to think about surgical scar treatment?

December 23, 2021 5:08 PM

Two weeks back,I had a facial lesion removed from my upper right cheek.The lesion was about 20mm but it was attached to the skin and my otolaryngologist/plastic surgeon had to cut few inches to remove the lesion. I went to the doctor last week to remove the stitches.I had bleeding and my face was swollen .Now bleeding had stopped and swelling is almost gone except for a small spot near the end of the cut almost under the eye.I don’t feel any itching/pain anymore. The doctor told me to apply Vaseline or bacitracin for a week and then continue with moisturizer and sunscreen.He told me before the surgery,the scar will be just a thin line but looking at it doesn’t seem so.

As it’s in the face, I’m worried that if I don’t take the right steps the scar may not go away. As I’m struggling with anxiety and mild depression,these worries gets multiplied :((

Am I overthinking or is it’s too early to thick about the scar treatment?
I was reading about Mederma + SPF, scar silicone sheets,strider pads,vitamin E and bio-oil.But I am confused about which one to use .
Also do I have to massage the area also?
Could you please share your experiences and knowledge on how to deal with this?

Thanks a lot everyone.

posted by SunPower to Health & Fitness (13 answers total)

You should talk to the doctor (again if you're super worried), but do know that many freshly-healing wounds are indeed nearly undetectable within about a year - especially on facial skin, it's really surprising how bad something can look at first compared to even three months later. It is absolutely possible to overdo it right now while you're still healing and make it worse.

The number one thing you can do is follow your aftercare instructions. Don't be putting unnecessary substances into still re-granulating flesh. Your doctor went to school for a long time for this.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:16 PM on December 23, 2021

Definitely too soon to freak out. I had a skin cancer removed that was large enough to require a flap repair, meaning a big-ass V-shaped scar right under my eye. It was horrifying. Eight months later it was undetectable. I mean that literally, nobody can tell anything was ever done. Lyn Never is right, ask your surgeon. I have used silicone scar sheets with good success but just ask before doing anything.
posted by HotToddy at 5:36 PM on December 23, 2021

It's truly too early to do anything but keep up with your aftercare instructions. If you are really worried and it would give you some peace of mind, see another plastic surgeon for a second opinion about what treatment you should be doing now to minimize any scarring. But until you've done that, don't DIY this by using additional treatments on such a fresh wound.
posted by Stacey at 6:42 PM on December 23, 2021

I had a mole removed from my cheek 20 days ago and have a 10mm scar. My plastic surgeon recommended bioCorneum (can buy from Amazon) twice a day for 6 months to a year. The bioCorneum has sunblock in it but they very emphatically told me to use sun block for a year on the scar to keep it from being more red than the surrounding skin. Even sun through the car window is bad.
posted by LoveHam at 6:55 PM on December 23, 2021

A few years ago I had a bike wreck that left part of the skin open on my nose. The ER doctor was someone who had also had a bike wreck that cut her face and had gotten advice from her hospital's plastic surgeon expert. She sent me home with a stash of medical bandages that were these sort of stay-wet things that would also stick to my skin. They weren't available over the counter. I would cut a small bit each day to fit over the wound, over a dollop of vaseline. Keeping it moist was the most important thing; you don't want scabbing at all.

I can't figure out what the medical bandages are called. They were clear with little tiny air holes. You could see them on my face close up but not from a bit further away. They were sort of squishy. And the doctor said they weren't available over the counter, so they might have been some sort of surgical wound dressing.

After the wound healed, I continued to apply oil twice day, with a massage. I believe I used a mix of Vitamin E and rose hip seed oil, though I think Vitamin E isn't a necessarily backed by evidence.

I can also add that I have always used sunscreen moisturizer, so I certainly kept that up as part of my skincare routine.

I remember going out with some friends about a few weeks or a month after my wreck. I ended up sitting near someone who asked about my injury, and he pointed out a miniscule mark on his face, which had been far worse than mine a year previous. It was quite reassuring to see.

About four months after my bike wreck, I started dating someone. He didn't even notice anything on my nose until I told him. These days, I mostly forget about the bike wreck and the nearly-invisible mark on my nose, even when I look in the mirror. I thought I had ruined my face. My face is fine. Good luck.
posted by bluedaisy at 7:50 PM on December 23, 2021

My mom had what sounds like a similar lesion removal, and her doctor warned her that it would look bad at first, but be unnoticeable after a year. She looked a little like the Joker for months, with the part of her cheek above the scar looking much fuller than below, but you can’t see it at now. Listen to your surgeon!
posted by momus_window at 8:12 PM on December 23, 2021

Face skin is amazing for not-scarring. I had an accident that left deep scrapes on my face and every limb and they all scarred permanently EXCEPT the ones on my face. Those looked awful for about 2 months and then gradually faded away to nothing.

Once they had turned back into skin I wore sunscreen religiously on them for the first year, but not the decades since.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 8:29 PM on December 23, 2021

Ask your doctor using silicone tape at night (you can still use the Mederma during the day). It's very similar to Mederma, except it's reusable and you put it right on your skin. I had a nasty incision on the meaty part of my palm near my thumb that extended down toward my wrist, and my physical therapist introduced me to it. You can hardly tell I had surgery in that spot now.

The tape is on Amazon if you do a search. And yeah, definitely sunscreen and moisturizer!
posted by dancinglamb at 4:39 AM on December 24, 2021

Oh definitely wait! You have NO IDEA HOW GOOD YOUR FACE IS AT HEALING! I have a kind of skin cancer that has turned up in hideous bumps on my face. I had an enormous one that was biopsied and then I had radiation every day for 15 days. The skin was scarred from the biopsy and a quarter of my face was entirely black from the radiation. I don't mean darker than my usual skin -- I mean sharpie marker black. About six months later -- looked good, a year later was normal. Absolutely back to normal - you would never know.

The rest of your skin is not like that. I've also had the same on my chest, for example, and years later it looks not so different than it did right after the radiation. Your body is so amazing it just knows that faces are really important.
posted by heavenknows at 5:09 AM on December 24, 2021

bluedaisy, it was probably semipermeable wound dressing. OP, you can ask your doctor about that or Tegaderm, but do not use them until you have that conversation.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:53 AM on December 24, 2021

Thank you all for taking time during this holiday season for sharing your experiences and your suggestions.It’s so comforting to know how the skin has healed for many without much scarring.Sure,going to call my doc next week and follow his advice.
Wish you all a merry Christmas and happy holidays!
posted by SunPower at 2:51 PM on December 24, 2021

FWIW, Mederma did help some of my scars, and it was recommended by my surgeon who did both hand surgery and plastics. The caveat, as you’ve no doubt gleaned, is that these scars were on my hands and not my face. And I honestly don’t remember how far out post-op I started using it.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 5:05 PM on December 24, 2021

bluedaisy, it was probably semipermeable wound dressing.
Yes, that looks exactly right. Thanks!
posted by bluedaisy at 6:10 PM on December 25, 2021