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Scar Removal: Will You Need A Scar Reducer After Plastic Surgery?

Skin is fragile. Plastic surgery incisions, or any other skin invasion, leave a scar. Cosmetic surgeons cannot predict scarring because everyone heals differently. The depth and size cannot be foreseen.

Three certainties.

• Once a scar forms it cannot be erased.
• It can be improved with a scar reducer, but a trace will always remain.
• Surgery to treat a plastic surgery mark will leave a new one.

Plastic Surgery Scar Characteristics Vary.

1. Liposuction “holes” depend on the size of the instrument. Fat is especially prone to scarring.
2. A full tummy-tuck incision runs from hip to hip, low enough for underwear to cover but noticeable in swimwear and intimate situations.
3. Nose jobs leave a fine-line. Facelift wounds are positioned to blend in. Eyelid skin is so thin keloids may appear.
4. Breast enlargement or reduction scars respond especially well to silicone therapy, available in scar reducer home treatments.

An irony of cosmetic surgery is that afterward, doctors often prescribe scar removal called “revision”; that is, more plastic surgery to treat color and size.

For a list of scar removal products, please click on here —> Scar Treatment Reviews

Scar Ointment: Gels, Creams and Good Advice

Here is medical advice about over-the-counter or prescription creams, scar ointments or gels.

• These products can be used to treat scars that are caused from surgical incisions or other injuries or wounds.
• If you are under the care of a plastic surgeon and your scarring is the result of cosmetic surgery, ask your surgeon for his or her recommendation
• (Prescription) treatments can include corticosteroids or certain antihistamine creams for scars that ccause itching and are extremely sensitive.
•   Reviewed by doctors at the Cleveland Clinic Department of Plastic Surgery

Doctors acknowledge over-the-counter treatment is often sufficient.

• Scar (ointment) may help reduce the appearance of some scars.
• Results vary — and no scar can be completely erased.
• If you’re concerned about the appearance of a scar, ask your doctor about other treatment options.
• Possibilities may include…silicone-based products, laser treatment, or collagen or steroid injections.

                                                            Source:  mayoclinic.com

Silicone-based products are frequently used as parallel therapy with laser treatment, collagen or steroid injections, and dermabrasion.

Scar Home Treatment: Natural Ingredients in Scar Removal Products

You will hear about natural products in a host of scar removal products .Fortunately, medical research tackled common ingredients and whether they work as a scar reducer.

The results can help identify scar home treatment that can be effective. 

A South Florida Medical Research Center studied topical scar compounds. The doctors evaluated silicone and vitamin E.

 Vitamin E 

1. This natural substance is marketed in scar removal products.
2. Pure vitamin E applied directly to scars is considered natural therapy. 

The doctors reported “no significant” reduction in color or size of scars from Vitamin E applications.

Onion extract 

A major Texas medical school put it to the test. 

• They wanted to know if it reduced redness and itching.
• They also checked for change in the size of scars.
• People with surgical scars were evaluated.
• Only half were given an onion extract scar ointment. 

The study found onion extract to be ineffective.

Scar Help: The History of Silicone and an Understanding of How it Works as a Scar Reducer

In the early 1980s, a US doctor coated a polymer sheet with silicone gel. He was trying “pressure treatment” to reduce scarring. All he wanted was for the sheet to spread evenly over a scar. He thought a coating of silicone would do the trick.

He ended up discovering scar help. The silicone acted as an improved scar reducer. Scar size decreased more rapidly than with pressure treatments without silicone.

Silicone:  How and What

In spite of major studies, doctors don’t know how it works.

A preeminent theory involves static electricity. Silicone scar ointment attracts static electricity. The electrons may break up thick fibers, flattening scars.

With major studies, doctors know what it does.

One proven benefit involves silicone’s ability to help cells retain moisture. Moisture always facilitates healing, which reduces scar size and color.

Silicone in topical or dressing form protects a scar from irritation and infection. Infection halts healing, which increases scarring.

Scar help in practice

• Silicone cream is now commonly used after plastic surgery. Doctors in the UK routinely employ silicone scar help alongside various surgical treatments.
• It is frequently used in the US for continued scar help after laser scar removal.

• Silicone in gel or cream form replaces self-adhesive silicone sheets that won’t stay on joints and flexible body parts.
• Massage deepens delivery of silicone, and can break up tough scar fiber.

For a list of scar removal options, please click here —> Scar Products

Facial Scar Treatment: You See it in the Mirror, They See it Whenever you Meet

Facial scars are difficult to cover up, making them prime candidates for scar treatment. Some marks on the face may be disguised with makeup. But many women think it looks even more prominent. Men shy away from using makeup. Many scars can be covered up with clothing, dark stockings, long pants, hats and even gloves. Not damage to skin on the face. 

Candidates for Facial Scar Treatment 

1. Accident and trauma cause scarring. Even a common wound stitched in childhood can remain prominent for decades if not treated.
2. Plastic surgeons attempt to hide scars at the hairline and behind ears. But any wound leaves a scar and rude people make a sport of noticing plastic surgery remnants.
3. Earlobe and cheek scarring results from piercing. Both are risk areas for keloid and hypertrophic scarring, which is extremely disfiguring.
4. Burns scars. From the accidental cigarette burn to a kitchen fire or traumatic accident, burns cause deep damage and heaped-up tissue. 

 Because facial scars are already noticeable, some prefer to avoid a medical therapy which would make things look worse, even if only temporarily. Over-the-counter products can be invisible while at work.

Best Scar Removal: Darker Skinned People Will Want to Know

A major study of scar treatment products on brown skin delivered the following results: 

Silicone was kept on serious scarring for 12 hours a day. 

1. Doctors documented moderate improvement in 50% of cases.
2. Improvement appeared within a span of 3 to 6 months.
3. The study recommends this scar treatment can also be used as a preventive method immediate after a surgical wound has healed.
4. Of all non-invasive treatments, the doctors report silicones seem to be generally the only ones that are able to manage scarring without significant side-effects.

                                                Source: Dermatotherapy and Cosmetology Center, Pune, India 

The study occurred in India 

South Asian skin is brown to dark brown. Brown and African skin tones are most prone to serious scarring. Doctors hoped to find the best scar removal that was effective, inexpensive and non-surgical. 

• This particular study focused on keloid scars, which are disfiguring tissue growths, because ethnicity is a key factor in formation of keloids. 

The study also found pressure combined with silicone impacted keloid size.

Scar Fading: Scar Color is Natural and Responds to Scar Fading Products

Most scarring is red or brown. It’s the natural color of the woven skin cells that form during healing. 

Scar fading can be readily accomplished. Not everyone knows what to call it, or what expectations to set.

Many people seek what they refer to as a scar reducer. Others search for the best scar removal option. Help, treatment, revision. Here’s the goal: 

• Reducing color can make a mark look smaller.
• Scar fading gives the appearance of a flatter scar.
• Facial fading treatments can ease embarrassment. 

A medical study of silicone gel found one in three people experienced scar fading. Lasers are effective over time. Dermabrasion is effective on protruding pigmented skin. When fading is the goal, surgery may be extreme as it leaves another scar. 

A health note: Bright redness can mean a scar is infected, and you should see a doctor.

Scar Removal Creams: During and After Medical Scar Treatment

Scar removal creams are popular alternatives to medical scar treatments.  Increasingly, doctors begin using silicone scar therapy shortly after many kinds of surgery, in order to minimize scar formation.

The main reason is moisture

• Wounds need moisture to heal well. Inadequate hydration is a top factor in scar formation.
• Silicone-based scar removal products promote moisture retention at the cellular level.
• Secondary topical scar treatment should begin within two weeks of the wound closing, or stitches removed.

Numerous studies of the effectiveness of silicone on scar removal conclude that silicone’s impact on moisture is a key factor in the effectiveness of this form of scar treatment.

For a list of scar removal creams, please click here —> Scar Removal Options

Scar Removal Cream in the News: Spare the Onions

Most scar removal creams use one of three active ingredients: 

1. Silicone, which research proved effective.
2. Vitamin E. Researchers can’t agree.
3. Onion Extract. 

Researchers at a major Texas medical school put onion extract to the test. 

They wanted to know if it impacted scar symptoms such as redness and itching. They also checked for any change in the size of the surgical scars. 

• 17 people with surgical scars were evaluated.
• They were given a topical gel on the day their stitches were removed.
• They were instructed to use the gel three times a day for a month.
• Only half of the ointments contained onion extract.

The results 

1. The doctors found no evidence the onion extract gel shrinks scars.
2. They found that the test patients who were given petroleum jelly got more relief from redness than those using onion extract.
3. Petroleum jelly also relieved itching better than onion extract.

Scar Removal Cream: When Surgery and Dermatologists are Out of the Question

There are instances in which doctors won’t perform surgery or use lasers as scar treatments. In these cases, physicians often recommend silicone scar therapy. 

Topical Silicone Scar Removal Products Have Been Tested 

• In a controlled study at major South Florida medical center.
• In a serious analysis by doctors in Pune, India
• Both studies found silicone in gel form reduced the size of scars for more than half of their test patients. 

Why would a doctor recommend a scar removal cream over medical treatment? 

• You are prone to forming serious scarring, such as keloids and hypertrophies.
• You have a family history of bad scarring.
• You are a person of color. Dark skin scars more noticeably.
• You can’t afford it and insurance won’t cover it. 

Research also determined silicone reduces scar tenderness, stops itching, and softens scar tissue, which helps flatten a scar.