Scar Treatment Breast Augmentation

You will probably have some visible scars from breast augmentation surgery for at least a while, unless you have transumbilical breast augmentation, or TUBA (There are scars in TUBA, but they are hidden in your belly button.) The amount of scarring that develops for you is a factor of heredity (some people scar and some don’t), whether you smoke (smokers are more likely to heal badly), and whether you had any complications from breast augmentation, such as an infection. However, there are some options for scar treatment for your breast augmentation incisions that can help minimize scarring.

First, remember that full healing for your incisions takes time. Your incisions will be closed and dry within a few days and sutures, if any, are removed within a week. But the scar tissue will continue to mature over time and goes through several stages. Your scars may look red and raised for several weeks to several months. They will start to become paler and flatter as more time passes. Your scars may take up to a year to fully mature and they are still a work in progress until then.

While your incisions are healing, do not expose them to direct sunlight. Some surgeons recommend that you use sunscreen on your healed incisions to protect your skin after cosmetic surgery, even under your clothes if you will be out in bright sunlight.

Many people believe that topical vitamin E will help with their scars. However, some studies show that vitamin E has no effect and even made the appearance of incision lines/scars worse. There have also been reports that some people suffer a rash when they use topical vitamin E.

I personally believe it is better to be safe than sorry and I do not use vitamin E topically. I use surgical paper tape for the first initial healing phase of my incisions and then have switched over to silicone sheeting as breast augmentation scar treatment. Vitamin E taken orally is an antioxidant and captures free radical, which may be very effective. However, it also can slow down blood clotting, so be sure to let your incisions heal completely before you take vitamin E. Ask your surgeon before taking vitamin E.

Silicone sheeting is becoming widely as a breast augmentation scar treatment used to help flatten and fade scars. There are also topical silicone gels that can be used on scars. However, some doctors believe that it is more the pressure of the sheeting rather than the silicone that aids in minimizing scars. I personally do not use topical gels but do find them effective and less of a hassle than the sheeting for facial applications or small, discolored flat scars or scrapes.

Many surgeons use surgical paper tapes such as Steri-Strips. These paper tapes have been shown to help considerably in flattening and fading scars.

Some surgeons recommend that you apply Retin A (topical tretinoin) to the incision after it has healed closed and then cover it with paper tape as a scar treatment option. Repeat this every few days until the scar has faded. In my experience, areolae scars healed wonderfully, as did inframammary crease incisions. Many liposuction scars are treated this way, and very effectively I might add.