What are some oils/creams to help fade a neck scar?
October 14, 2022 1:24 AM Subscribe
I had surgery two weeks ago that involved a horizontal incision on the front of my neck. I’m looking for products that will help minimise scarring.
I’m female, late 40s, white skin. The bandages have just come off and while the surgeon did an incredible job and I know it’s early days…the scar is in a very visible spot.
Can anyone please suggest products that they’ve used successfully (e.g. I know about BioOil, but does it work??) to reduce visible scarring? I’m in Australia, so internationally available would be ideal. TIA!
I’m female, late 40s, white skin. The bandages have just come off and while the surgeon did an incredible job and I know it’s early days…the scar is in a very visible spot.
Can anyone please suggest products that they’ve used successfully (e.g. I know about BioOil, but does it work??) to reduce visible scarring? I’m in Australia, so internationally available would be ideal. TIA!
+1 on the silicone sheets, but supposedly Tamanu oil (it's Pasifika stuff, so I think it's not that uncommon for Australia market?) helps too. I do use it for insect bites though.
posted by cendawanita at 1:53 AM on October 14, 2022
posted by cendawanita at 1:53 AM on October 14, 2022
I had a thyroidectomy and used silicone scar sheets and the scar is just a faint, flat, paler line. It’s also important to keep it covered with sunscreen once you no longer have a physical covering.
posted by HotToddy at 2:22 AM on October 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by HotToddy at 2:22 AM on October 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
As an Aus medico who has had a lot of surgeries, the spiel:
The specific product makes minimal difference. You need any emollient to add moisture to wound. Vaseline, dermeze ointment are different consistencies of paraffin that few people react to. Bepanthen make a silicon scar gel that isn’t too expensive. Have seen some plastic surgeons critique bio oil as a potential irritant to developing scars.
The gentle massage when applying the moisture is therapeutic
You need to reduce tension on the skin. When it’s well healed, you can look at using a steri strip (used lengthwise) or something like primafix or hypafix tape for this.
Cica care silicon gel dressing exists and works, but I find is often tricky to remember to keep on. Primafix retention tape is also useful to keep it on.
Sun protection: SPF 50 always and the rest of the slip slop slap
Consider a hair skin nails supplement / zinc and vit C along with overall optimised nutrition.
I hate to shock, smoking is bad.
Genetics plays a role in how you scar so don’t beat yourself up if you do everything “right” and it doesnt look perfect.
Full scar maturation can take 1-2 years so consider a regime you can keep up consistently long term.
posted by chiquitita at 2:59 AM on October 14, 2022 [14 favorites]
The specific product makes minimal difference. You need any emollient to add moisture to wound. Vaseline, dermeze ointment are different consistencies of paraffin that few people react to. Bepanthen make a silicon scar gel that isn’t too expensive. Have seen some plastic surgeons critique bio oil as a potential irritant to developing scars.
The gentle massage when applying the moisture is therapeutic
You need to reduce tension on the skin. When it’s well healed, you can look at using a steri strip (used lengthwise) or something like primafix or hypafix tape for this.
Cica care silicon gel dressing exists and works, but I find is often tricky to remember to keep on. Primafix retention tape is also useful to keep it on.
Sun protection: SPF 50 always and the rest of the slip slop slap
Consider a hair skin nails supplement / zinc and vit C along with overall optimised nutrition.
I hate to shock, smoking is bad.
Genetics plays a role in how you scar so don’t beat yourself up if you do everything “right” and it doesnt look perfect.
Full scar maturation can take 1-2 years so consider a regime you can keep up consistently long term.
posted by chiquitita at 2:59 AM on October 14, 2022 [14 favorites]
Full scar maturation can take 1-2 years so consider a regime you can keep up consistently long term.
I want to draw extra attention to this. I, too, have a neck scar from surgery in 2019. It's raised, which nothing will resolve, but in the last 6-12 months it's become much, much less angry and red-looking. It still gets angry and red when I am hot, exercise, or otherwise have a lot of movement that makes my shirt collar repeatedly rub against it, but it's practically unnoticable otherwise these days (after being very noticable for a year or two).
I used nothing to care for it beyond the first ~3-4 weeks after surgery. I do use sunscreen religiously on my face and neck, though, so it's always had that level of care as a baseline.
FWIW I work in clinical research. There's surprisingly little (good) human evidence to support the value of any topical scarring mitigation approaches, and I say that because most studies in this field are small, poorly designed, and otherwise flawed. Likewise, preclinical non-human/animal studies aren't predictors of human scarring at all. Any product claims are on shaky ground at best, but the human scarring response has some person-to-person variability—what works for someone else won't predictably work for you and vice versa. The summary from chiquitita is good advice, because it's defensible and supported by plenty of clinical evidence: an emollient that you (personally) find non-irritating and that you can use regularly is going to give your body the best environment to continue revising this scar. Hang in there!
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 3:18 AM on October 14, 2022 [7 favorites]
I want to draw extra attention to this. I, too, have a neck scar from surgery in 2019. It's raised, which nothing will resolve, but in the last 6-12 months it's become much, much less angry and red-looking. It still gets angry and red when I am hot, exercise, or otherwise have a lot of movement that makes my shirt collar repeatedly rub against it, but it's practically unnoticable otherwise these days (after being very noticable for a year or two).
I used nothing to care for it beyond the first ~3-4 weeks after surgery. I do use sunscreen religiously on my face and neck, though, so it's always had that level of care as a baseline.
FWIW I work in clinical research. There's surprisingly little (good) human evidence to support the value of any topical scarring mitigation approaches, and I say that because most studies in this field are small, poorly designed, and otherwise flawed. Likewise, preclinical non-human/animal studies aren't predictors of human scarring at all. Any product claims are on shaky ground at best, but the human scarring response has some person-to-person variability—what works for someone else won't predictably work for you and vice versa. The summary from chiquitita is good advice, because it's defensible and supported by plenty of clinical evidence: an emollient that you (personally) find non-irritating and that you can use regularly is going to give your body the best environment to continue revising this scar. Hang in there!
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 3:18 AM on October 14, 2022 [7 favorites]
I had a mole removed from my face recently. The surgeon said the BEST thing to do was to use sun screen on the scar for 12 months. Even if the sun is coming through a car window, use sunscreen. They also recommended a sunscreen with silicon in it that I don't recall the name of at the moment.
posted by LoveHam at 3:46 AM on October 14, 2022
posted by LoveHam at 3:46 AM on October 14, 2022
I had a fine scar on my brow that faded incredibly well with silicone cream. I had a cut with three stitches.
YMMV but FWIW my doctor said the scar specific products are expensive and suggested I try lanacane anti friction cream (silicone based). I was diligent using it for the first few months. The scar is not visible at all 18 months later.
posted by dazedandconfused at 5:23 AM on October 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
YMMV but FWIW my doctor said the scar specific products are expensive and suggested I try lanacane anti friction cream (silicone based). I was diligent using it for the first few months. The scar is not visible at all 18 months later.
posted by dazedandconfused at 5:23 AM on October 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
My wife used Derma E Scar Gel after her thyroid surgery. She applied it every morning for several years and believe it helped.
posted by beowulf573 at 6:05 AM on October 14, 2022
posted by beowulf573 at 6:05 AM on October 14, 2022
My wife used some type of vitamin E after getting her knees replaced. We think it helped a lot.
posted by NotLost at 6:28 AM on October 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by NotLost at 6:28 AM on October 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yes silicone scar sheets! My recent surgery scar looks way better than my older scars that I never used scar sheets for. I mean you can still see a scar but it is significantly less intense looking.
posted by donut_princess at 6:44 AM on October 14, 2022
posted by donut_princess at 6:44 AM on October 14, 2022
When I had hand surgery many years ago that left me with a lot of scarring, the surgeon advised me to use Vitamin E - but not the oil you'd buy specifically for skin, but the Vitamin E that comes in gel capsules that you'd take as a supplement, because it's much more concentrated. He said to pop the capsule with a pin and rub it in, which I did, diligently. I have very fair skin, and the post-surgery scarring was prominent, but I followed his directions and now have no visible scarring at all, bar a very faint line on my finger that's barely noticeable.
posted by essexjan at 7:00 AM on October 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by essexjan at 7:00 AM on October 14, 2022 [2 favorites]
I had a cervical fusion through the front of the neck. I used vitamin E oil very successfully. I dud nit know about the concentration level as pointed out by essexjam, but I used the capsules sliced open.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:24 AM on October 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:24 AM on October 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
I had a thyroidectomy and did nothing at all to reduce scarring. It's now a very thin, nearly undetectable scar, but it did look pretty angry for about 6 months after it was first done. Ditto for my dad's carotid endarterectomy and his thyroidectomy. My brother had a pretty significant Moh's procedure on his face and he used Mederma. His face looks fine to me. My mother had a terrible mouth infection which required a drain to be put into her face. She also used Mederma and it looks pretty normal to me.
posted by MagnificentVacuum at 8:58 AM on October 14, 2022
posted by MagnificentVacuum at 8:58 AM on October 14, 2022
I just came to advise that these incisions are built to disappear pretty much no matter what you do as long as you don't pick at it, and ideally use sunscreen or physical cover consistently. It will look horrible now, it will continue to look red while it flattens, and then the redness begins to recede as well. This whole process takes about 2 years, at which point you may be the only person who even notices it and it may look nothing more like a slightly exaggerated neck crease.
Moisturizing your neck in general will improve the general consistency of the skin texture there so that that you don't have crepey skin for the scar to stand out against. Sunscreen will do the same but with signs of sun damage, plus scars respond extra to sun damage.
There's no real proof that any of the various solutions work better than bog-standard moisturizer and sunscreen, it's just that they all mean you're cleaning, caring for, and generally paying attention to the area. Everyone thinks that the thing they did is what worked, but it was actually designed to work from the start and what everyone did along the way was supportive but not definitive.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:05 AM on October 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
Moisturizing your neck in general will improve the general consistency of the skin texture there so that that you don't have crepey skin for the scar to stand out against. Sunscreen will do the same but with signs of sun damage, plus scars respond extra to sun damage.
There's no real proof that any of the various solutions work better than bog-standard moisturizer and sunscreen, it's just that they all mean you're cleaning, caring for, and generally paying attention to the area. Everyone thinks that the thing they did is what worked, but it was actually designed to work from the start and what everyone did along the way was supportive but not definitive.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:05 AM on October 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
Want to echo the others that the specific product isn't important. Keep it moist and covered with a wet-type-bandage-thing during the day if you can, and certainly at night. Massage oil or thick moisturizer once or twice a day, and apply a dot of petroleum jelly or similar before you put the bandage on. A gentle massage brings blood flow to the area, which helps with healing. Sunscreen is so important -- get some super high SPF and use it only on that one spot if you don't want to use it everywhere. But keep it covered as much as you can, to keep it moist and out of the sun.
(I had a bike wreck and some facial injuries scars on my nose and upper lip about five years ago, and there are marks but only that I can really see. I experimented with all sorts of various oils and such, but I think it was the moisture and massage and coverage that did the most work, not any specific product.)
posted by bluedaisy at 11:24 AM on October 14, 2022
(I had a bike wreck and some facial injuries scars on my nose and upper lip about five years ago, and there are marks but only that I can really see. I experimented with all sorts of various oils and such, but I think it was the moisture and massage and coverage that did the most work, not any specific product.)
posted by bluedaisy at 11:24 AM on October 14, 2022
Seconding Vitamin E cream. My thyroidectomy scar is almost invisible after four years. It did look pretty angry for the first couple of months, though
posted by scruss at 1:17 PM on October 14, 2022
posted by scruss at 1:17 PM on October 14, 2022
Response by poster: Thank you so much for all the answers.
So, the instructions on my hospital discharge sheet are ‘Keep wound dry and intact for 14 days post-op then expose post GP-review’. The 14-days post-op was last week, and my GP took the bandages off and said it all looked great and no cover required.
Does this mean it’s okay to cover with the silicon gel sheets during the day? Is that a problem - does ‘expose’ mean it needs to be open to the air?
Thanks in advance to anyone who knows.
(It’s an anterior cervical fusion scar, like JohnnyGunn’s)
posted by Salamander at 5:18 PM on October 16, 2022
So, the instructions on my hospital discharge sheet are ‘Keep wound dry and intact for 14 days post-op then expose post GP-review’. The 14-days post-op was last week, and my GP took the bandages off and said it all looked great and no cover required.
Does this mean it’s okay to cover with the silicon gel sheets during the day? Is that a problem - does ‘expose’ mean it needs to be open to the air?
Thanks in advance to anyone who knows.
(It’s an anterior cervical fusion scar, like JohnnyGunn’s)
posted by Salamander at 5:18 PM on October 16, 2022
I would wait a few more weeks until the wound is fully healed and skin well closed before using silicon sheet. If choosing to cover with a dressing or tape, I would use something permeable to air, which silicon and waterproof dressings are not.
posted by chiquitita at 10:12 PM on October 16, 2022
posted by chiquitita at 10:12 PM on October 16, 2022
Yeah, this is where I'd use a skin-friendly oil or really good moisturizer + sunscreen or a scarf or gaiter, where air can circulate.
I can't remember if there are scar tapes/covers that are air-permeable, I think there might be but you'll have to comparison-shop. With anything sticky, though, be very watchful for contact dermatitis - even if you didn't get it from your dressings, the body can get fed up eventually and freak out at tape adhesive.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:33 AM on October 17, 2022
I can't remember if there are scar tapes/covers that are air-permeable, I think there might be but you'll have to comparison-shop. With anything sticky, though, be very watchful for contact dermatitis - even if you didn't get it from your dressings, the body can get fed up eventually and freak out at tape adhesive.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:33 AM on October 17, 2022
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