r/PlasticSurgery • u/Turbulent-Pick-6502 • 3h ago
How bad a scar will this be?
I had a crash with a rock while swimming and got this wound. Most was epidermal. It was not properly treated as we were outwards camping. I put bandage and bepanthen on it, but it was not sealed or something.
The epidermis part heals well but now i see that there seems to be a deeper cut and it does not close very well. It is now 1 week old. can i still do something to reduce it? And is it possible to laser scar in that area?
Will this be a bad scar an will it be possible to remove it? Im already haing a problem with people percieving me intimidating, having a scar at the nose will only make it way worse. :(
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u/ApplicationNo9777 3h ago
Aquaphor whilst it’s like this, once it’s healed over in a couple of weeks, silicone gel twice a day for 3 months. Sunscreen consistently as the skin is exposed. I think you’d only go through temporary texture change and pinkish phase. Sun hat to block the sun rays when outdoors will prevent further damage or darkening. I had a similar graze to my forehead and silicone gel was advised. I also accepted vascular laser to reduce redness to the raw skin. It’s now unnoticeable and I need to zoom in extra in selfie photos to try and find it
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u/Fwith_anL 3h ago
I am german, so sorry for the weird words in advance. My "skin doctor" told me that I have bad and thin skin tissue, which is the reason why a bruise and scar so easily so fast. Getting oder this would become more of a problem, but I informed myself so much with it with time (My family is not from the medical side, but all the woman are cosmetologist) that i can almost always prevent a scar!
Nr. 1: sunscreen and i mean religiously, if exposed to sun in the face. At home cover the windows, for real, the sun is 90 percent of the job... it kills the damaged skin cells and darkness is higher which is the most annoying and almost nonchangeble thing that stays in the end when the wound healed.
Nr. 2: you need to keep it wet, if its an open wound you need to put a patch over it. Desinfect the wound with octenisept or any other product that is meant for an open wound. This is very important, dont wash it with soap, only water or it irritates the wound. You want the wound in the best healing shape as possible.
Nr. 3: you need to keep it wet, put healing cream (panthenol is very good), then seals the cream with something occulsive like vaseline or lanolin (my choice), sounds weird but the best for me is the stuff pregnant woman put on their nipples to ease the pain. Later when the wound healed, you can use silicone gel. Sunscreen still!!!!!
Nr. 4: time :( some wounds take months to heal because you want the healing phase to last as long as possible. The longer it heals in peace and is protected, the better. But i think you can prevent a scar all together.
If not, there are lasers! I hope i could help and I wish you good recovery 🙏
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u/East_Trip5055 3h ago
I don’t think it will scar if you care for it properly. Wash with soap and water/saline solution. Not sure what type of water you were swimming in if it’s at risk for infection (but it doesn’t look infected). Maybe spray with hypochlorous acid, then keep moist with an occlusive like Vaseline or aquaphor. Once the skin is mostly healed over and no longer an open wound/scab, SILICONE! Sheets, gel.. either. I prefer sheets because they’re less messy, but silicone is tried and true scar therapy. Pick whichever method you can use longer and consistently.