this post was submitted on 16 May 2024
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i got top surgery (double mastectomy) like 3.5 years ago now. i stuck to massaging my scars because i didn't actually want to reduce the appearance of my scars (idk why i was worried about this, they're fucking massive LOL). i was more concerned with blood flow / nerve functionality than appearance

however, that was 3.5 years ago and, due to some unrelated scarring (i scar like a mfer (i keloid a lot)), i got recommended to get some silicone tape, so i was like, what the hell, i'll put it on my top scars too

i also got nipple grafts, so i've been putting it on the edges of my nipples as well (i've noticed they're scarred quite badly on the outside)

note that my skin seems to be allergic to the glue in standard adhesives, so i've actually been using silicone gel, just applied topically twice a day, instead of silicone tape / strips (i'm also using a lot, so it would be a lot of tape to put on / take off / clean every day... the gel you just wash off)

it's a really good excuse to be shirtless more often during the day, and the results have been pretty promising thus far, 2 weeks in. my scars already feel a lot softer. i think the gel has also been helping things get cleaned out... my scars have been a little prickly and itchy, which is generally a good sign for that happening. so you might consider it for helping restore your blood flow / nerve functionality as well

also cool that it's still working after this many years... i guess 3.5 years is a lot to some people, but not a lot in the absolute scale of things

just something for y'all to think about. i've heard it does help reduce the appearance of scars, if that's something you want (i think they look badass, so i'm tryina show em off)

for the science of how this works, from what i've found, we can consistently reproduce the effects of softening / reducing scars, but we have no actual idea how it works LOL. so that's kind of interesting

have you gotten top surgery? what kind, and did / do you use silicone for treating the scars? if you haven't gotten top surgery, is this something you'd want to do?

(additional note: i'm not sure how long you need to wait after getting top surgery to apply the silicone tape/gel, but i would check w/ your doc and wait till they're fully healed at the very least)

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[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

Nice, glad you have had success so long after surgery. I used mederma immediately following surgery and my scars are pretty much nonexistent over a decade later.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Massage and silicone gel, sheets are what is typically recommended. I tend to have to inject with steroids for the hypertrophic (big) scars. And you are right, we are not clear why it helps. It has better results in studies than with massage by itself and better than maderma.

Great job on taking care of them!