Big scar!

Hi Cheltonian girl and a very warm welcome to the online community although I'm sorry you've had to find us.

I suppose it depends on how big you class as 'huge'. When I had my WLE the wound on my arm was probably about 6 inches long and the wound under my arm from the SLNB was about 3 inches long. Over time these have both settled down and now you can hardly see them.

How big are yours?

x

Yea I've got some fairly large scars. Skin graph + donor site. 

It was pretty bad at the beginning but now it's been a couple of years on they've now pretty much faded and I don't really think about them. 

I was recommended by the dermatologist to make sure I moisture the scars. You can get bio-oil that are said to help appearance but I've not tried that. 

Hi scot88 and Cheltonian girl

When I had my check-up a couple of weeks after my WLE and SLNB the nurse recommended using E45 to massage and moisturise the scars. She said that there was no need to spend lots of money on expensive oils as E45 was just as good. I took her advice and it certainly worked.

Interestingly she said that it was important to massage the scars as it "teaches the skin to feel again".

x

Hi Cheltonian girl, 

I am yet to see my scar in two days, but before WLE my plastic surgeon told me that it will be "ugly" as they do deeper and different cut from the first biopsy cut (which was small, I had 4 stitches which faded within a month)

I was told scar will fade in time as skin repairs itself. So final look will be definitely better from the day when stitches are removed.

I am trying to have protein based diet to help muscles repair and skin produce collagen. Not sure how much difference it makes in practice but that's what I remember from uni (of course not great idea if have high cholesterol and all that)

How is your mobility? Are you back to your normal movements already? 

X

My WLE scar was very ugly Elmyra as it was very raised. When I queried it with the nurse she said it was done like that so as it healed the skin would settle down leaving the scar flat. Apparently, if they sew it flat in the first place you get left with a slight indentation and I know that's true from another minor op I had years ago to remove a wart.

x

Yes Iatchbrook, 

That's how exactly the surgeon explained to me, tbh I had a total trust in her experience and said do what is needed. 

I am sure it'll be upsetting to see it first, but I appreciate their honesty and trust it will get better over time. 

X

The edges of mine looked like a pie crust!

Lol latchbrook :) glad it has healed over time. 

My initial mole was described like a "chocolate muffin" by the consultant, that made me smile too:)

X 

Hi cheltonian girl I had my WLE two weeks ago I've just had.my stitches removed and it's a very big scsr however I've got good faith it will fade in time I'm ver prone to hypertrophic scarring so I'm using silicone gel and gel sheets to help with the healing my derm also told my that massaging the scar can help its appearance in the long run! 

That's the one I went for too. Now there's always a tub in the bathroom since my op in 2018.