Plastic Surgery for TT scar?

Question

Hi everyone,

I had a TT in May, and it left a fairly good sized scar.  I was wondering if anyone has had any success with a plastic surgeon to remove or fix the scar?  I've seen a lot of folks were you can hardly see the scar, but my scar is pretty big, thicker on the left, and actually quite noticable.  I've been trying to ignore it, but last week at my 8 year old daughter's birthday party one of the little girls asked me what happened to my neck.  While it would have been fun to tell her about the throat slasher lurking in the shadows, I just told her I had had surgery.  Anyway I'm not thrilled about scaring little girls and having folks wonder what happened.  I've used the scar gels and stuff since the surgery, but it somehow just grew in really thick, with darker edges.  I'm a caucasian, almost 41 year old woman.

Thanks!

ChitChatNine · Answer

also carry a lip balm with SPF 30+ in your pocket for the time you end up in the sun and may be caught offguard without your sunscreen!  I did that for a year and also used the same sunscreen you are using!

Be careful with the cortisone shots .... I had a few of them bcz of my abscess and they did help, but too many of them can "thin" the scar/skin and make it have indentations and be worse ... so don't overdo them and be sure ev. doc that does one knows that others have been done . in case you switch docs.

C~

ChitChatNine · Answer

Even the most gruesome TT scar usually gets better with time.  Mine was abscessed and quite ugly (I can post pics if you want) and now at the 2yr mark it is dramatically better!  I also had secondary procedure 1/4" above it to remove a 1.5cm lump that developed (they didn't know if cancer or benign at the time) and it was removed and that left a scar, too, which is doing better daily and that was done by a dermatologist/surgeon and thankfully totally benign.

C~
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onemoretime · Answer

One more thought - your surgeon or a dermatologist can inject cortisone into the scar to decrease redness and swelling.  I had a few spots along my incision that were puffier than the rest and felt tight/pulling.  The surgeon who did my TT also does facial reconstructive surgery and when he saw those areas in a follow-up a month after surgery, popped a shot into each area.  The next day those areas were MUCH flatter and less red.  I had one other area injected at 3 months post-surgery.  I'm 10 months post-surgery now, and my scar looks super.  

p.s. My sister has had 3 open-heart surgeries and her chest looked like one big scar.  Her scars continued to get bigger, tighter and redder even a year after her last surgery.  She asked her heart surgeon what could be done and he told her the only thing to do would be to cut out the scar tissue the next time she had surgery.  I told her what my surgeon did; she asked her heart surgeon, who discounted it.  So she went to a plastic surgeon for a consult.  He took one look at her scars and asked if anyone had treated her with cortisone!  Because her scarring is so extensive, and old, she'll have more shots than I did, and won't have such good results.  But she's already seen the scars flatten and has less pulling.

TriciaS · Answer

Thanks to all who took the time to help!  I really appreciate it!  I guess I'll wait and give it more time.  I try to remember to put 70 sunblock on the scar every day.  Neutragena makes it and it's great, it has helioplex (whatever that is) in it.  Anyway, it goes on really well and isn't sticky like others I tried.

Thanks again!!
Tricia S.

PurpleKate28 · Answer

I agree with thypatient -- give it a good year; Mine is at the one year mark and if (finally!) blending right in; Along the way, I had times like you when I felt it would never do that --

Thypatient · Answer

My scar seemed to take an eternity to settle down, but eventually it did.  I work around children and did have them ask about it too.

Personally, and I want to stress this is just me, I wouldn’t even think about something like that for at least a year or so.  I’d give it that much time to see what it does on it’s own.

In the meantime, keep it away from the sun - that helps with the color.  I failed to do that too many times and now it’s probably not as blended as it could be.

Gee, don't you sometimes wish that ol' throat slasher could have gotten some side training in aesthetics!

Good luck.

bet643 · Answer

Sorry that you have a bad scar. Some people just scar more than others. I have such a tiny one that you can't even see it. My surgeon had to cut me again in the same spot to complete the total thyroidectomy almost 30 days later. I was very pleased because I know of a few that had bad scars. If you are able to afford it, go see a plastic surgeon. I have a cousin that has a real thick and wide scar. It looks like she was cut from ear to ear and she hates it. I have really bad scars in other places but I was lucky to not have a scar from my T.T.

utahmomma · Answer

It took over a year for my scar to settle down (just in time to get the second surgery). Check with a good ENT/facial plastic surgeon. I know that my ENT has a laser that they can use to minimize the appearance of scars. Or you could give it a bit more time.