Hello everyone! Its been awhile!! I recently was diagnosed with melanoma much to my surprise and am having surgery on Monday to remove it. I will have a one inch scar on my back and was wondering if any of you know of any products to use to get rid of or lessen the appearance of scars??
Hi and welcome back! Sorry to hear about the melanoma--that's really scary!
There's an over-the-counter product called Mederma that's supposed to lessen the appearance of scars, but I believe you have to put it on 4 times a day, every day, for at least 6 weeks. I've never stuck with it long enough to make a difference. If your scar becomes raised (a hypertrophic scar), you can get cortizone injections from your derm, but those are probably considered cosmetic and your insurance probably won't cover it. When I had my scars injected, it was $150, I believe. If your derm is removing the melanoma, I'd recommend talking to him/her about what product to use and when to start the scar treatment.
I had a Mohs surgery earlier this month for basal cell carcinoma, and I have a keloid-type scar for now...they told me it will likely look raised and bumpy for at least six months. I have been putting Vitamin E oil on it every day. And covering it with a band-aid every time I go out. It's on my collarbone and it's not pretty. But after a month it already looks waaaay better than it did.
The plastic surgeon (who did the operation) said not to worry about what it looks like now. She wants it to look good for the rest of my life. The reason it's raised is because she pulled the edges of the wound together to overlap and raise up. Apparently when it fades and stretches some, it will show less of a scar than if the two edges of the wound were just held together instead of overlapping.
Good luck! I was a bit sore after the local wore off but didn't have to take any of the pain meds at all.
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