My 4 year old daughter had surgery in April. She now has a huge scar on her belly. What is the best way to take care of it for it to heal the best and hopefully fade over time? I know to keep it out of the sun and always covered with sunblock, but what are the best creams or lotions for scars. It is in the shape of the mercedes symbol (too bad she didn't get one after :)), so it is pretty big. Thanks moms!!!
I just wanted to add that my dermatologist told me that the best way to reduce a scar is by massaging it -- a lot. So if you use vitamin e or mederma or vaseline (my doctor said it works as well as the others) you need to keep rubbing it in because the rubbing action breaks down the scar.
Look for a silicone scar patch at Walgreens. I used them after my daughter's foot surgery and when she fell & hit her nose. They really work if you leave them on.
Hello,
My daughter had surgery last year with a huge long scar on her chest, and we went back and forth between Mederma and calendula ointment. I think we had great success; her scar isn't lumpy at all, and it's just a thin white line. We did it for at least a month or two (maybe twice a day), as soon as we could put something on it. I think that just the rubbing and massaging also helped a lot.
Hope that helps!
J.
My niece pulled a pot of boiling water off the stove and got burned and a bad scar after. They have been putting Mederma on it for the past several months--over a year after it happened--and it is reducing the scarring. It is not as bumpy as it was though I don't know if it will completely go away. If you try this as soon as you are able to apply something, you may have even better results.
I just had surgery and my surgeon told me the best thing to use was vitamin E oil. I bought a good size bottle from Target for like $5 and have been rubbing it on 2 or 3 times a day. It seems to be working! Makes your skin really soft too.
Mederma is a good choice.
As an alternative, you can put a dressing on the scar that is moistened with silicone gel (such as Dermatix). This is completely safe and painless...but your daughter may not tolerate, or feel itchy, from wearing the dressing for an extended period of time.
Vitamin E worked for my daughter's scar. She also had surgery and was left with a long scar. Now it's a thin white line.
My son had surgery in December and the urologist told us that all of her plastic surgeon friends tell her just massage with something like A&D and that is what we did. His scar is almost totally gone. :)
