Hi, all! Surgery is a week from tomorrow, and I'm already thinking about the scars. I tend to scar poorly, and I want to give these the best chance of healing that I possibly can. Any tips? TIA.

if you're having it done laproscopically, those scars are pretty tiny (well, with sleeve I think you'll have one longer one, the one where they'll pull your stomach out from). Mine were not even noticeable after a few months.

My laproscopic scars are barely noticeable at this point. You have to really look to find even the largest one where the scope went in.

The scars are so small they won't be visible even if you wear a bikini. You will probably be able to find them because you will know where they are but no one else will notice. By the way, most of mine were just removed with my lower body lift.

Im a bad scar-er too. Always have been. My scars stay red/raised for a long time, but eventually flatten and turn *almost* back to skin colour...but this takes YEARS. I am two years post op, and my WLS scars are still brown, and one is still raised (don't even talk to me about my plastic surgery scars that are only 10 months old!)

Unfortunately aside of proper wound care (keep it clean, keep it moisturized, keep it out of the sun) not much you can really do to influence the way your scars form the way they do.

However, you CAN do some "scar maintenance" after the fact (i.e., steroid shots.., surgically excising them in hopes that it will heal nicer...but there are no guarantees to this).

The WLS scars are very small though, so unless you suffer from serious keloid formations, they aren't so very stand-out-ish.

Edited to add: just remembered something you else can do to aid in better healing: DON'T SMOKE! (at least that is what both my wls and plastic surgeon said...)

Edited October 25, 20205 yr by ms.sss

The scars are pretty small, but I look like a pin cushion because I had my gallbladder out 6 months before my surgery. I have like 10 holes! [emoji23] I'm not too worried about it but if you are, you can try scar massage. I had a breast reduction years ago, and I used Mederma to massage my scars and they're barely noticeable.

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5 minutes ago, STLoser said:

The scars are pretty small, but I look like a pin cushion because I had my gallbladder out 6 months before my surgery. I have like 10 holes! I'm not too worried about it but if you are, you can try scar massage. I had a breast reduction years ago, and I used Mederma to massage my scars and they're barely noticeable.

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Yeah, see I had a breast reduction in 1990, and you can still see the scars. I scar real bad, that's why I worry. I don't think mederma was around back then (or if it was, I didn't know about it). Wondering if I should try the silicone sheets I've been hearing about...

I tend to scar as well but I have to really look to see my scars now. They’re just tiny, thin white lines. I used bio oil & gently massaged it in twice a day once the wounds were healed. I’ve used it before & it helped heaps then too.

Yeah, see I had a breast reduction in 1990, and you can still see the scars. I scar real bad, that's why I worry. I don't think mederma was around back then (or if it was, I didn't know about it). Wondering if I should try the silicone sheets I've been hearing about...

I doubt if it was around. It was still fairly new when I had mine in 2003. I tend to scar pretty badly too, so I think the massage helped. I believe you can do it with Vitamin E too.

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10 hours ago, Arabesque said:

I tend to scar as well but I have to really look to see my scars now. They’re just tiny, thin white lines. I used bio oil & gently massaged it in twice a day once the wounds were healed. I’ve used it before & it helped heaps then too.

I will have to look into bio oil. I haven't heard of it. Google will be my friend today

14 hours ago, ms.sss said:

The WLS scars are very small though, so unless you suffer from serious keloid formations, they aren't so very stand-out-ish.

Edited to add: just remembered something you else can do to aid in better healing: DON'T SMOKE! (at least that is what both my wls and plastic surgeon said...)

I am looking in to a few things. I don't keloid REALLY bad, but my scars from my breast reduction 30 years ago are still somewhat visible, as is a scar on my forehead from when I was six. Ugh. Of course, I didn't really take care of them, because I was young and invincible, right?

I don't smoke cigarettes, thankfully.

On 10/26/2020 at 05:55, GivinItMyALL said:

I will have to look into bio oil. I haven't heard of it. Google will be my friend today

I used Bio Oil after my plastic surgery. I ended up being terribly allergic to it. After I had my reaction to it I googled and found that many dermatologist warn against its use.

I used silicone tape on my VSG scars. They are now nearly invisible white lines. I tend to scar well so I may have had the same result with or without the tape.

4 minutes ago, sillykitty said:

I used Bio Oil after my plastic surgery. I ended up being terribly allergic to it. After I had my reaction to it I googled and found that many dermatologist warn against its use.

I used silicone tape on my VSG scars. They are now nearly invisible white lines. I tend to scar well so I may have had the same result with or without the tape.

Yeah, I have been curious about the silicone tape. I plan on asking my surgical team this stuff as well, but wanted to get more opinions from the folks who have the scars, not the ones who create them... LOL

11 hours ago, sillykitty said:

I used Bio Oil after my plastic surgery. I ended up being terribly allergic to it. After I had my reaction to it I googled and found that many dermatologist warn against its use.

Oh SillyKitty that’s terrible you had a reaction. I’ve never had a problem & my surgeon even told me to use it. I thought it was all natural oils but I just read that the fragrance they use in it can cause reactions in some people. (Don’t know why they’d need to add fragrance with all the lavender, calendula & rosemary in it but ... shrug.)