How do you prevent bad scars? How can you make a surgical scar look as good as possible? The truth is, there is no scarless surgery, and with a surgical procedure, incision scars are inevitable. However, with the skill, experience, and expertise of a board-certified cosmetic plastic surgeon like Dr. Adibfar, the visibility of a scar can be minimized to promote a less visible scar. This is done via strategic surgical techniques, special instruments, and quality sutures which prove the least traumatizing to the skin. Dr. Adibfar also makes certain to use your skin to hide the scar within certain areas of the body. After considering all this, there is still quite a lot you can do to minimize excessive scarring. Let’s take a closer look!

After a surgical procedure, your incision lines will be very sensitive — especially sensitive to the sun and UV rays. Make sure to apply sunscreen to your incision lines even months after surgery. Immediately after your procedure, your scars will naturally look more red and obvious, this is normal. To prevent the sun from turning your scars a deep red colour permanently, we advise that you always use sun protection outdoors. Patients commonly believe that if their scars are hidden underneath clothes that they are safe from the sun, however, UV rays do penetrate through clothing so it’s always best to avoid sun exposure and apply sunscreen when outdoors during warmer seasons.

Your surgeon may also suggest you invest in a silicone gel as part of your scar treatment. These gels are known for making scars heal better, flatter, and helping them fade over time. Once your incision is completely healed or closed naturally, you should be applying the silicone gel religiously every day (multiple times a day) and combining it with a gentle massage to break down scar tissue. Silicone sheets also work similarly and can be placed over the scar like a bandaid, allowing the sheet’s silicone solution to penetrate the scar.

Alongside your daily maintenance, there are a few other treatments that can help prevent any scars from becoming more noticeable. Ideally, you would want to begin these treatments right away as preventative measures. It’s much easier to prevent a scar from becoming noticeable than to take a bad or offensive scar and attempt to make it look better. Laser treatments are good at reducing the appearance of scars. Using it early on is more productive before a scar has any chance of becoming more noticeable. As mentioned, it’s easier to treat a scar while it’s healing. For patients who are more aggressive with laser treatments early on, their scars tend to heal thinner, paler, and flatter. We typically use a pulsed dye laser to attack any redness (or red blood vessels) and break down the collagen in a scar. These lasers work especially well on abnormal scars by decreasing the inflammation. Laser resurfacing can also be used to target any water that collects within swollen scars allowing the skin and scar to remodel into a more natural-looking scar.

Scars can sometimes leave lacerations and deep creases in a patient’s skin. To improve the shadows created by these scars, and fill in and soften any deep lines, Dr. Adibfar can use filler. The filler works by hydrating and filling in areas of the skin that show these deep lines, essentially erasing them from the skin. Our patients find scar revision with fillers to be incredibly helpful, especially those who’ve suffered from excessive acne scars, chickenpox scars, and scars from injury. The filler does a phenomenal job in creating natural volume in areas of the patient’s skin that show mild to severe depressions. The result is a softened appearance and a subtle difference that can do wonders for a patient’s confidence and self-esteem.

Click here to learn more or to book a consultation with one of Toronto’s leading board-certified cosmetic plastic surgeons, Dr. Adibfar.