Planning a surgery is always harrowing. Your very life is at stake, of course. But there may be other consequences of surgery that concern you as well, such as scarring. From total knee replacements to c-sections, scars are an inevitable by-product of surgery. While many surgeries these days involve less invasive techniques such as laparoscopic procedures, there are still procedures, like the above, that require cutting into skin and muscle tissue.
Here are some steps you can take before and after your surgery to help minimize scarring.
Before
For best results, you’ll need to properly prepare for the resulting scar.
Stop smoking at least two weeks prior to the procedure. Niicotine can constrict blood vessels and slow down the healing process. The more slowly your incision heals, the higher the chances of a scar forming.
Stop drinking alcohol, coffee, and other beverages with caffeine right away. That’s because these beverages have a tendency to dehydrate you, which leads to slower healing time for scars. To be safe, just drink water in the few days before your surgery, balanced with a diet of lean protein, vegetables and fruits. Don’t forget to pop your regular multivitamins as well.
Try to get to a healthy weight before the surgery. The more fat you have on your body, the deeper the surgeon must cut, which reduces the chances for a clean incision. This also makes it more difficult to cleanly stitch up the incision.
After
Maintain your healthy diet as much as possible so you can to even out your hormones and keep stress at bay. Don’t engage in strenuous exercise until your doctor gives you the green light to do so. Exercise can stress your incision, causing it to stretch and possibly re-open.
Once healing is well underway, be sure to massage the area every day with moisturizers. This will help keep your skin softer and more pliable, while preventing it from becoming dry and flaky. If your skin is too dry, you’ll be tempted to itch it and aggravate the wound.
Again, once your doctor has given you the green light, you can start off with some light exercise to encourage blood flow to the area. Vital to healing properties are two things: oxygen and nutrients.
Check out what microdermabrasion entails to help stimulate cell turnover at the site of the scar. You should wait l at least two months after surgery to do this, and never attempt it before getting your doctor’s permission.
Finally, at-home scar reduction remedies represent an optimal way to reduce scars. Scarfade has been clinically proven to help reduce the appearance of scars. This topical silicone scar gel helps regulate the production of Collagen, which is critical in treating scars that result from surgical procedures.