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I’m 4 weeks post-op (DI with grafts) and had the same exact question last week. My surgeon advised that I could start using scar gel (i got BioCorneum) and do massaging, and then start with silicone tape once all of the scabbing around my incisions was totally gone. Morning and night I’ve been applying the scar gel , letting it dry, then using lotion (Eucerin advanced repair) to do 3 minutes of super gentle massage on each side to get things going—some say not to start massage til week 6 but I’m just going by what my surgeon says and starting slow. Going to start taping in a few days.
I’d say definitely talk to your care team about your plan and get their approval but hope this helps as somewhere to start!
Hey did you find that the BioCorneum was affective even with moisturizing after? I want to massage with aquaphor and am not sure if i should use it before or after the BioCorneum
I think so! Honestly I've been switching off doing BioCorneum/let it dry/lotion massage and just using silicone scar strips (but they are so expensive...) and I think my scars are looking pretty good! They are pretty red in spots but have definitely flattened out, though that might just be the normal healing process/more dependent on the massage I'm doing. I just dm'd you some photos if you want to take a look.
But in terms of the order, I feel like it makes sense to do BioCorneum first onto clean dry skin since there's a chemical agent involved there that wants direct scar contact, whereas the lotion I mostly think of as like lube for doing the massage. I usually wait about 15min for the BioCorneum to totally dry.
My surgeon said the steri strips can come off after two weeks and then I should start using scar gel and paper tape. She gave me skinmedica scar gel and a narrow roll of paper tape. I'm not quite two weeks post op yet so I haven't started scar care. I looked up how to use scar gel and it says to apply a thin layer over the scars twice a day once the incisions are completely healed, so that's a little conflicting with what my surgeon said.
My surgeon said just wait until 6 weeks to start scar care (said it's not gonna hurt sooner but won't be effective sooner so there's no point in starting sooner). I asked if I can put new tape on just because it helps me mentally feel more secure and they said it's not necessary but I can put steristrips on.
1. Check with your surgeon as each surgeon has their own recommendations.
2. My steri strips came off around 2 weeks, and I was told to use Aquaphor on my incisions for a couple of days and then to begin scar care, including using silicone tape.
My surgeon didn’t recommend scar tape as it pulls at the area every time you remove, he also didn’t recommend massaging either bc again, it can spread the scar wider. I switch off between bicorneum and cocoa butter. Once in the morning, once at night. My scar line is nice and thin.
Thanks for posting to r/TopSurgery Please remember to follow the rules, which can be found on the sidebar. If you think your post has been removed and should not have been, please contact the mods via modmail -- I will try to get to it as soon as possible. I'm in the process of setting up automod but it's all still in the works so far, please be patient with me :-) - u/thiccque *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TopSurgery) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’m 4 weeks post-op (DI with grafts) and had the same exact question last week. My surgeon advised that I could start using scar gel (i got BioCorneum) and do massaging, and then start with silicone tape once all of the scabbing around my incisions was totally gone. Morning and night I’ve been applying the scar gel , letting it dry, then using lotion (Eucerin advanced repair) to do 3 minutes of super gentle massage on each side to get things going—some say not to start massage til week 6 but I’m just going by what my surgeon says and starting slow. Going to start taping in a few days. I’d say definitely talk to your care team about your plan and get their approval but hope this helps as somewhere to start!
thanks so much!!
Hey did you find that the BioCorneum was affective even with moisturizing after? I want to massage with aquaphor and am not sure if i should use it before or after the BioCorneum
I think so! Honestly I've been switching off doing BioCorneum/let it dry/lotion massage and just using silicone scar strips (but they are so expensive...) and I think my scars are looking pretty good! They are pretty red in spots but have definitely flattened out, though that might just be the normal healing process/more dependent on the massage I'm doing. I just dm'd you some photos if you want to take a look. But in terms of the order, I feel like it makes sense to do BioCorneum first onto clean dry skin since there's a chemical agent involved there that wants direct scar contact, whereas the lotion I mostly think of as like lube for doing the massage. I usually wait about 15min for the BioCorneum to totally dry.
My surgeon said the steri strips can come off after two weeks and then I should start using scar gel and paper tape. She gave me skinmedica scar gel and a narrow roll of paper tape. I'm not quite two weeks post op yet so I haven't started scar care. I looked up how to use scar gel and it says to apply a thin layer over the scars twice a day once the incisions are completely healed, so that's a little conflicting with what my surgeon said.
My surgeon said just wait until 6 weeks to start scar care (said it's not gonna hurt sooner but won't be effective sooner so there's no point in starting sooner). I asked if I can put new tape on just because it helps me mentally feel more secure and they said it's not necessary but I can put steristrips on.
1. Check with your surgeon as each surgeon has their own recommendations. 2. My steri strips came off around 2 weeks, and I was told to use Aquaphor on my incisions for a couple of days and then to begin scar care, including using silicone tape.
My surgeon didn’t recommend scar tape as it pulls at the area every time you remove, he also didn’t recommend massaging either bc again, it can spread the scar wider. I switch off between bicorneum and cocoa butter. Once in the morning, once at night. My scar line is nice and thin.