How faded are your surgery scars?

[2Bsmaller18 436]

I had my arms and a fleur de lis TT revision about a year ago. The scars on my stomach are fading to a light pink and some spots are almost skin color. My arm scars are still a very dark pink and are wider than the scar on my stomach. I know with time they will fade more but does anyone else have some areas that faded much faster than others?

The plastic surgeon did a steroid injection a few weeks ago to an area on my belly because it was raised. It's been 6 weeks and it has helped so I am thinking if I should have more areas on my arms injected. I know we are not supposed to have any steroids after WLS but the plastic surgeon said the dose is less than 1% of what an oral steroid would be. Still, my skin gets really thin from steriod injections so I don't want to do an injection if not necessary. Old scars I have are all faded but they are 10-20 years old so I don't know if my arms will eventually fade as well or if I will be stuck with pink scars long term.

Any thoughts or opinions?

[ms.sss 15,580]

I am probably the worst scar healer on earth, (or at least in the top 10) lol.

I had mine done a year ago also (TT, Breast Lift, Arm Lift), and the majority of it is still very dark and some raised.

I did have 2 rounds of steroid injections the past couple months as well on various places and I have to say it has made a HUGE noticeable difference. But they are still probably still worse than most other people who are way further out than me. I was prepared for this as I have a long history of hyperthrophic scarring. The eventually fade, but I know it will take years for me.

Tummy tuck: Darkest at the edges, less dark above my pubic area. They were pretty raised at the ends, but since the steroids, they are almost flat. There are a couple small 1/2 long sections along the middle that only have thin white line.

Belly Button: dark, flat thin line...from far away it looks like I have a dirty belly button, hahahaha.

Breast Lift: Again, darkest at the ends close to my sides, as well as the t-junction at the bottom of each breast. The ends were raised, but not anymore since the steroids, but the t-junctions are still raised (I plan on getting another round for these guys in a couple months). The scars around my nipples are both thin skin-coloured lines (just a little lighter, but not white).

Arm Lift. Ugh. These are the worst of them all. They are dark, wide, and before the steroids super raised (think bungee cord). They have lighted up dramatically since the steroids (all of the areas treated have), but still dark compared to "normal" healers. At least they are flat now! For some reason though, the scars in my both my armpits are invisible. These areas were the fastest to heal and disappear (I wonder if it was because of the "moisture" in that area...lol).

But even with all my scars, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. I know they will fade eventually. The tummy and breast scars are hidden even in my tiniest bikini, but yeah, my arm scars are in full view when I lift my arms to go "Whooooo!" hahahaha. When they are down, you can't see a thing...except for one small section on my right arm from the back, even when my arms are down. But no biggie.

P.S. On a related note, I also had 2 sections of my scar "cord" cut as it was affecting the mobility of my right arm. I'm all good now.

P.P.S. Sorry this was so long.

Edited January 27, 2021 by ms.sss

[catwoman7 11,212]

arms supposedly scar worse than a lot of other areas. I'm not sure why - I think the skin is thinner there, and also, it's next to impossible to not use your arms for weeks on end after a brachioplasty. You sometimes end up tugging on some of the incisions when you inadvertently reach to get something. Anyway, my arms scars have faded a lot (I'm almost two years out from my brachioplasty), but then, I can barely see my breast lift scars and my LBL scars - so my arms are definitely "worse", even though they're not that bad (plus no one can see them anyway unless I have my arms up in the air...)

[Kris77 1,534]

I’m hoping my scars fade as well. I’m only 2 mos or so Post PS of TT, breast lift and aug. He has me using scar gel twice a day on them🤞🏻🙏🏻
I don’t scar well either. I’m a keloid former. When I broke my ankle my husband rubbed cocoa butter on the scar every day for me and it flattened out and you barely can see the scar now. It creeped me out too much to touch it bc you could feel the screws when you rubbed it so he is the best hub ever and did that for me!❤️

[parisshel 1,892]

Coming up on two years post-tummy tuck. While I never had any raised portions of the hip to hip scar, the color continues to be quite visible. I have used scar cream from the moment I was authorized to do so. I also never exposed the scar to the sun for the first year post-TT. So I did all the right things in terms of promoting the least-visible scar possible.

I don't anticipate any change at this point, although scars I have from decades ago have lightened considerably, so maybe there is hope if I have patience! In the meantime, I just concentrate on how happy I am with my flat and toned tummy!

[catwoman7 11,212]

2 hours ago, parisshel said:

Coming up on two years post-tummy tuck. While I never had any raised portions of the hip to hip scar, the color continues to be quite visible. I have used scar cream from the moment I was authorized to do so. I also never exposed the scar to the sun for the first year post-TT. So I did all the right things in terms of promoting the least-visible scar possible.

I don't anticipate any change at this point, although scars I have from decades ago have lightened considerably, so maybe there is hope if I have patience! In the meantime, I just concentrate on how happy I am with my flat and toned tummy!

I'd read most improvement will be during year one, but there could continue to be some scar lightening during year two, but by the end of year two, that would be it - although I've noticed lately that my scars have continued to lighten somewhat.

[ms.sss 15,580]

12 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

I'd read most improvement will be during year one, but there could continue to be some scar lightening during year two, but by the end of year two, that would be it - although I've noticed lately that my scars have continued to lighten somewhat.

It really depends on the person. I've seen many on here whose scars have basically disappeared in a couple months (looking at you @sillykitty & @mousecat88)...and others whose scars stick around for what seems like forever (looking at me, lol).

I have had scars stick around for 5-6-7...10 years but all eventually heal enough so they are virtually invisible. Takes a while but they all get there eventually....my breast reduction scars from 2005 had just healed to near invisibility around 2017 (12 years!)...and then I got a breast lift, and I restarted the clock, lol.

But will toot the steroid shots horn again though: I had shots in November and then again in January and wow, the difference is amazing. I'll try to post a pic later when I'm not so lazy....

[ms.sss 15,580]

Ok, finally got around to taking a current pic of my arm scars, which are by far the worst of my plastics scars.

NOTE: I am probably an example of the worser-case scenarios in terms of wound healing, most people will fare much, much, better than I do. So don't get freaked out!

You can see in the before pic (taken 11 months AFTER PS!) that my scar is pretty red/purple and very RAiSED.

After the first round of steroid shots, there was a visible difference about 1-2 weeks after. It flattened out quite a bit, and got less red. The skin around the scar also started to pucker a bit (which was something my doc told me may happen).

I got a second round of shots about 2 months later, and now, two months after that, my scar is completely flat, even lighter, and the pucker/dimpling is gone.

I am deciding if I want to go for a 3rd round or just wait it out. The injections HURT, man. Hurt, like tears in my eyes hurt.

Anyhoo, here are the pics:

P.S. FYI ...I have read/been told that steroid shots are more effective on hypertrophic scars (which I have) than keloids. So discuss with your doc if this is a route you want to go down....

[2Bsmaller18 436]

I went in for a follow up. The surgeon looked at the area on my stomach that had the steroid injection back in December he was surprised how it affected my skin. It's lighter and flat but my skin really thinned out so he said to wait another 3 months and come back and then if needed he would dilute the steroid and do the red areas.

This would be to treat the original surgical scars that would then be 15 months old.

[2Bsmaller18 436]

On 3/9/2021 at 9:47 AM, ms.sss said:

Ok, finally got around to taking a current pic of my arm scars, which are by far the worst of my plastics scars.

NOTE: I am probably an example of the worser-case scenarios in terms of wound healing, most people will fare much, much, better than I do. So don't get freaked out!

You can see in the before pic (taken 11 months AFTER PS!) that my scar is pretty red/purple and very RAiSED.

After the first round of steroid shots, there was a visible difference about 1-2 weeks after. It flattened out quite a bit, and got less red. The skin around the scar also started to pucker a bit (which was something my doc told me may happen).

I got a second round of shots about 2 months later, and now, two months after that, my scar is completely flat, even lighter, and the pucker/dimpling is gone.

I am deciding if I want to go for a 3rd round or just wait it out. The injections HURT, man. Hurt, like tears in my eyes hurt.

Anyhoo, here are the pics:

P.S. FYI ...I have read/been told that steroid shots are more effective on hypertrophic scars (which I have) than keloids. So discuss with your doc if this is a route you want to go down....

I am surprised how much the color faded. I had read that steroid injections wont help the red but will help flatten a scar. However it makes sense that if the skin is flattened out the the red color is over a larger surface area so it would then be lighter. It looks like it worked great for you and I bet it gets better over the next few months too.

My scar looks puckered still like your middle picture so I am hopeful that it will smooth out eventually.

Old scars are definitely thin lines or at least faded. I think I just didn't pay attention to how long it took to fade before and need to be more patient.

[Lillimint 48]

I appreciate the multiple pics. I had not anticipated getting plastic surgery. Not until a couple of weeks ago when my skin decided that it was going to run away and elope with gravity.

I don’t find the scars bothersome or at all (on me or others), but I had no idea that there was so much to be done to make them fade. The whole thing is just fascinating. Skin is so weird.

[catwoman7 11,212]

mine are pretty well faded except in a couple of areas. I was kind of surprised, actually. It's most noticeable on my arms, but those scars are pretty thin now. You probably wouldn't notice unless you were paying a lot of attention.

[ms.sss 15,580]

9 hours ago, Lillimint said:

I don’t find the scars bothersome or at all (on me or others), but I had no idea that there was so much to be done to make them fade. The whole thing is just fascinating. Skin is so weird.

It really depends on the person. If you have a history of bad scarring, then you will likely have to go through what me and @2Bsmaller18 have to go through. I could have just let them heal on their own, but it would take for-EV-AH. I'm just impatient. I have lots of other scars from various other things (surgery, accidents, etc...) that have virtually invisible. It just takes time.

But the majority (if not all) of the scars I've seen on here are are much better than mine.

[Kris77 1,534]

My breast scars have healed really well! Can’t see incision around nipple hardly at all, the line down is a light pink.
My TT is still much darker. Surprisingly it’s not lumpy like I thought it would be. My PS gave me a scar gel to use every day and then I also apply cocoa butter at the other end of the day. I used cocoa butter on my ankle scar when I broke it and it really helped flatten it and fade it. I would rub it back and forth w the cocoa butter so I’m doing the same w my TT incision. So far so good. I still say for me these scars dark or not are better than what was there pre PS