It is true that even cosmetic surgeons can’t operate without leaving marks. If you have surgery, you will have scars. Sometimes they are placed as unobtrusive as possible (in case of cosmetic surgery).

When undergoing normal surgery the scars will be more prominent. They are permanent, yet, if you give them the right kind of care, you can drastically reduce them.

Most individuals who have post-operative scars have two goals:

1 – To keep excessive scar tissue down
2 – To have a pleasing cosmetic appearance

Post-Operative Scar Treatment

There are several combined elements that make up the best treatment of scars after surgery. It’s important to bear in mind that the majority of after-surgery scars are hypertrophic, which are swollen and purplish or reddish in color.

Keloids are the kind of hypertrophic scars that develop on the outside of the original wound region.

Over the counter treatments for surgical scars include:

1 – Creams (silicone gel, medical honey, and Vitamin C)
2 – Scar massage
3 – Vitamin and mineral supplements
4 – Pressure therapy
5 – Silicone gel
6 – Paper tape

A Look At Surgical Paper Tape

A great way to keep incision wounds closed and reduce the shear forces is to use adhesive tape. It’s often applied when the dressings or sutures have been removed. The reason adhesive tape is used is that it keeps the wound from stretching and won’t cause an excessive amount of scar tissue from developing.

The paper tape should be work for at least six weeks or until the surgical wound has closed. If the wound has yet to close after six weeks, the tape should be left on.

You can use hypoallergenic tape, which cares for the scar by decreasing the tension on the edges of the wound and reducing the possibility of less favorable and widening scarring. Both Micropore and Steristrips tape are highly recognizable for doing the above things.

Another reason you should tape the cut is that scabs will stay soft and small. It’s a good idea to stop scabs from forming and maintain moisture so the wound will heal better and there is less scarring. (contrary to what is commonly thought there are studies confirming this. Read more about it here.)

A Look At Pressure Therapy

Until it was clear what the silicone sheeting benefits were, the standard way to treat surgical and burn scars was pressure therapy. The way to apply continuous pressure on the wounds was done through compression garments.

Compression has shown to do four things:

- Reduce pain
- Reduce the itch
- Prevent scars from forming
- Flatten scars that have risen

The effects on keloids are negligible:

Theoretically, pressure can break up the collagen bundles and soften the mass. However, it’s a long-term treatment and may not see any improvements for quite some time.

Today, compression garments are typically applied to boost the speed rate of the healing/recovery process. They’re typically used after certain kinds of procedures like

- Breast reduction
- Buttock augmentation
- Face lifts
- Liposuction (for men)
- Thigh lifts
- Tummy tucks surgery

When you wear post-operative compression garments, it does five things:

1 – Boosts the circulation of blood
2 – Lessens the swelling and bruising
3 – Reliefs your pain and discomfort
4 – Supports the body’s new contours
5 – Lessens the scar tissue creation

Talk to your doctor about the benefits of using a compression garment after your surgery.

A Look At Silicone Gel Sheeting

Silicone gel sheets are used in the management and treatment of hypertrophic scars and have been in use since 1982. While pressure therapy is still widely used, silicones are used in the majority of hospitals and burn centers.

Because of it’s easy of use, effectiveness and non-invasiveness silicone gel is commonly called the golden standard in hypertrophic scar treatment.

The gel helps by softening up and reducing the scars; cutting down on the amount of time it takes for pressure therapy to do the same thing.

Silicones are not intrusive and there’s little to no risk for side effects…although some folks may have minor rashes or redness. Thus, it’s recommended over more invasive treatments like cryotherapy, steroid injections and corrective surgery.

Since most surgical scars improve upon using silicon gel this modality is recommended before trying other, more risky treatments. There are a large variety of brands that include pre-shaped sheets to cover incisions like breast reduction and c-section scars.

Click here for more comprehensive information about various surgery scar improvement methods.

No, vitamin E does NOT improve scars. There is no scientific evidence confirming this claim. In fact, some studies do demonstrate vitamin E may cause skin irritation which actually worsen scarring. Anecdotal reports also mention widened scars after using vitamin e topically.

In this study (The Effects of Topical Vitamin E on the Cosmetic Appearance of Scars) the researchers concluded:

This study shows that there is no benefit to the cosmetic outcome of scars by applying vitamin E after skin surgery and that the application of topical vitamin E may actually be detrimental to the cosmetic appearance of a scar.

In 90% of the cases in this study, topical vitamin E either had no effect on, or actually worsened, the cosmetic appearance of scars.

So if vitamin E doesn’t work, what should we use?

The only proven effective scar treatment product you can use at home are Silicone Scar Treatment Sheets . (links to Amazon, read the reviews to learn how they can help you improve your scar tissue)

There are various studies demonstrating the benefits of silicone gel scar sheets. Here’s one published by Archives of Surgery.

Important to remark is that this modality does not work on all types of scars. Burn scars, discolored, and raised scars are known to improve. In some cases keloid scars may also be repulsed by silicones. Such scar tissue will become flat, softer, more pliable, and discolorations will tone down. Also itch and pain will be reduced.

Silicones have been used since the 1960′s in burn centers and hospitals. Only the last decades they have become available on the consumer market. Many people are still not aware of the existence (let alone effectiveness) of silicone sheeting for scars. Among those who are unaware of the benefits of silicones are not only consumers but also medical personnel. It’s a sad fact that many doctors, but even dermatologists, and plastic and cosmetic surgeons are not aware of the clinical proof that backs the use of silicones for scars.

For depressed scars silicones will not be the most appropriate treatment. These types of scar tissue will most likely be treated with fillers, dermarolling (needling), and collagen injections.

There are different types of scarring. It is important to distinguish between these types and their characteristics in order to choose the right treatment.

Different types of scars include:

Flat, Pale Scars
This type is most common and these scars are the result of the natural healing of the body. At they may appear red or dark and protrude above the normal skin level. Over time, these scars get paler and thinner until finally a white, flat scar remains. This maturation process can take up to 2 years and almost always a visible mark of the wound will remain.

Red, Raised Scars – Hypertrophic scars
Hypertrophic scars as these are called as well are red and thick/ raised and may itch or hurt. These scars generally form relatively quick after the skin trauma. They don’t extend beyond the injured site. If situated near a joint, they might hinder movement. Young people (below 30 years of age) and people with dark skin are more susceptible to this kind of scars. Inherited factors determine whether or not people are prone to developing these scars. It is not possible to completely prevent these scars but treatments such as silicone sheeting, and in lesser amount compression, ensure a hypertrophic scar to be converted into a flat, white scar faster.

Thick, Lumpy Scars – Keloid scars
As hypertrophic scars, keloid scars also are the result of unbalanced, excessive production of collagen in a healing wound. Unlike hypertrophic scars, keloid scars grow out of the borders of the original wound and continue to grow indefinitely. That way relatively large areas of skin can get covered. They are thick and can be itchy and painful. It is even possible they will not improve. Keloid scars may result from any type of injury; scratches, injections, insect bites and tattoos included. Anyone can get keloid scars and they can exist anywhere on the body but are very rare on eyelids, penis, and breast areola. Yet young and people with dark skin are more sensitive to these scars. Especially the skin above sternum (chest), abdomen, shoulders, upper arms, back, earlobes, the neck and face are most susceptible to developing these scars.

Indented, Depressed, Sunken Scars – Atrophic scars
In these scars, there is a very thin layer of scar tissue. The scars are sunk into the skin also referred to as a “cigarette paper’ texture. They arise when the healing process of the skin is broken and as such lack of new skin fibers are formed. They can also be caused by the skin itself. By the loss of underlying fat, but are generally the result of skin lesions after viral or fungal infection (Viral, fungal), immunity diseases (such as lupus erythematosus) and radiation therapy.

Scars after A.cne or Chickenpox
A.cne * and chicken pox are often the cause of depressed/ sunken scars. This often results in deep wells in the skin. It is important to know that these scars can develop to keloid scars. These scars are not always atrophic. (* the word a.cne is spelled this way because of Squidoo policy restrictions. This is a banned topic)

Stretched Scars
These scars form when the skin surrounding the scar has been under tension. In the beginning the scar is similar to a normal scar, but the constant tension the scar expands and dilutes it for the next weeks or months, until a stretched scar is formed. This happens e.g. when the scar is close to a joint is located and is tensioned during movement. Once stretched will the scar never narrow. The most common causes are injuries and operations. Another cause is the poor healing due to a poor general health or poor nutrition.

Contracture scars
These scars occur in case of large wounds. The skin quickly heals up and uses an inelastic tissue instead of normal skin tissue to close the gap. These scars can even deform the underlying muscle impeding movement. Sometimes they even attack the nervous system. This type scars are can be very severe and most difficult to treat. Many can only be improved by surgery.

Stretch marks
This type of scarring occurs when the skin is stretched rapidly, e.g during pregnancy or sudden rapid growth of an adolescent. Also hormonal changes seem to influence the formation of stretch marks. In the beginning, these stripes appear red or purple, but they get paler over the years.

Mole removal is, in many cases, done for cosmetic reasons. The downside of his procedure is the reasonable chance on a scar (in many cases scarring after mole removal is inevitable). Though, most people will agree that a well healed scar is preferred above a big, prominent mole.

This post is about how to prevent a scar and/or make the scar’s appearance as less obtrusive as possible after mole removal.

Regarding mole removal scar treatment two things are important. The first is wound care. The main rule is that the faster a wound heals the less scar tissue will develop.

Make sure to avoid complications such as wound infections or other wound healing delay. Moisturize. Avoid drying out of the wound. Dried out skin cells will die which delays the healing process. Not convinced? Read more about it here.

Keep the wound clean and covered. Monitor the process and in case of problematic issues take action. (e.g. use an antibiotic ointment or Medihoney wound paste when the wound gets infected) In most cases this should be sufficient.

Now that the wound has healed properly the scar can be treated. When a wound has closed and regenerative tissue has grown we speak of scar treatment. Before that it’s wound treatment. This matters because silicone sheeting should be used only after the wound has closed.

This gets us to the second important item of mole removal scar treatment; silicones. Use silicone sheets, or if you prefer a silicone cream, to treat the scar. These are the only empirically proven effective, non-invasive, over the counter products. Here’s more info, links to clinical studies on this subject, and my personal experiences.

The scar, or potential scar, will not only flatten, soften, become more pliable, and loose its red or purple color but the risk on excessive scar tissue (hypertrophic scars or keloids) will also decrease by using silicones.

For optimal results the sheets should be worn for at least 12 hours a day (or night, which may be more convenient in case the location of the removed mole is visible e.g. on the face).

Sheets have demonstrated to be more effective than their liquid variants. On the other hand, the liquid variants (such as Kelo-cote and ScarAway serum) are easier to use. They dry to a thin film after they are applied and are far less noticeable. I myself used the sheets during the night and the cream on daytime on my face. I used the sheets as much as possible on scars covered by clothing.

Gently massaging the scar tissue may also help as well as using sunscreen to protect it from harmful UV radiation (this is a must). Also keep in mind not to over-stretch the fresh scar because the pressure involved may widen it.