10/14/2022
One of the points that I drove home for a lot of my patients is that it takes a long time for to reach their endpoint. Even though the skin is healed a superficially within a few weeks, every scar needs to undergo remodeling at the collagen level. It changes with time and takes at least a whole year to reach its final place.
This evolution of a scar over time is a typical timeline. You can see scars are typically red at first, but gradually start to fade over time. The photo above shows the same patient at 3 different points, and the scar gradually fades away with time, in particular the color, any raised or swollen portion of the scar. They not only fade but they soften with time also. Putting together with careful attention to detail at the time of surgery is just the beginning.
To minimize scars, I start all of my patients on silicone gel a few weeks after surgery for at least 6 months, and also remind them to protect the scars from the sun. SPF is critically important to allow scars to heal nicely over time. After a year, many of them blend in as nicely as they do in this photo.
It's not surprise that a lot of my patients choose to have surgery in fall or winter to be ready for the following summer.