# Scar massage



## McKenna

I was wondering if anyone had a step by step method of massage to prevent scar tissue buildup.
Thanks!


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## desrtbloom

My surgeon told me to massage north to south and east to west in circular motions. I use lotion, lots of it, on my neck and incision and it looks great. You can barely see it now and I had my surgery in July.


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## lavender

I was told to massage up and down, north to south I suppose, to break up scar tissue. I was told by different people to use vitamin E oil or coco butter. I tried both, and have had tons of itching on my scar/neck/chest. Not sure if the additives in the Vitamin E or Coco butter were irritating it. I found some pure coco butter, and plan on trying that. I have also seen pure vitamin E oil that I would like to try. Even if I don't end up using them on my scar, I like the way they work as moisturizers in general. 
Surgery was in August. Scar is healing, but is noticeably raised in some places and flat in others. Seems to be how it healed from right after the surgery, and I'm not sure if the stitches were pulled too tight or what. It's pretty noticeable and I hope it gets better but mostly want the itching to go away. It is the worst, and I am sure that scratching my scar does not help anything!


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## McKenna

I will definitely try both of these methods. I am using Vitamin E oil straight out of the capsule on it.

I'm wondering if the scarease or maderma are worth the money. Anyone try them?


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## lavender

I tried a silicone scar patch that I wore at home and at night which seemed to help some. I bought it at Walgreeens, and was able to cut it in half to make it last longer. But then when I started breaking out, I couldn't stand it anymore and I stopped to see if that was aggravating my skin. No improvement. I would use it again if I could get the itching under control.


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## McKenna

Lavender, you really interested me in the silicone patches so I decided to buy one last week and I've been wearing it about 12 - 14 hours a day and it really works! The color of my scar has gotten a lot whiter. My scar is slightly raised on one side and I think it's gone down a little too. I will definitley keep using it.

It wasn't too expensive, about $20 for a 3" x 5" sheet and you can cut it to any size and re-use them. I've only used two small strips so far and they are both still sticky. I've even washed one like the package says, and it still stayed sticky! I'm just amazed, can you tell? LOL!


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## desrtbloom

My surgeon told me to use ScarZone cream three times daily and use the silicone scar patch for three months and to do the massage. I went was in the hospital this week and the doctor that treated me asked me who did my TT because he was very impressed with my scar and had never seen one so nice. So I think my surgeon's after care recommendations were a huge help to my scar being minimal.


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## lavender

McKenna said:


> Lavender, you really interested me in the silicone patches so I decided to buy one last week and I've been wearing it about 12 - 14 hours a day and it really works! The color of my scar has gotten a lot whiter. My scar is slightly raised on one side and I think it's gone down a little too. I will definitley keep using it.
> 
> It wasn't too expensive, about $20 for a 3" x 5" sheet and you can cut it to any size and re-use them. I've only used two small strips so far and they are both still sticky. I've even washed one like the package says, and it still stayed sticky! I'm just amazed, can you tell? LOL!


Sounds promising. I bought Scar Away with 8 1.5"x3" reusable patches that I can cut in half. I think it was $20-30, can't remember because I bought it months ago. Used it for about a month and my scar did seem to be getting better.

Then I got the rash, which I do not think was related to the patch at all, but I can't stand anything on my neck right now! UGH! I see my doc in a little over a week and will definitely be talking to her about this again. It's driving me crazy! I thought it was getting better with the Armour, but no luck. I will definitely start using the patch again once the scar is gone.

My old PCP recommended ScarZone as well, but that was after the rash showed up. I was really frustrated because I was trying to ask her about the rash, not the scar, and I am concerned that ScarZone would just aggravate it further.

I got a neck/shoulder massage this week because of pain that has flared up from an old injury. She took some time on my front neck/scar, and it was lovely!


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## desrtbloom

Yes, when I get a massage I have the gal work on my neck and it is wonderful. It has really helped.


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## mysarojane

How long after surgery were you instructed to start the massages?


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## Octavia

If I remember correctly, at my follow-up appointment a couple weeks after my surgery, the surgeon said to go ahead and start massaging the scar.


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## lavender

A couple weeks to a month after surgery. Once the wound has fully healed and it's not too tender. I used vitamin E oil and cocoa butter and just massaged it as much as possible. Now you can barely see my scar.


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## webster2

The doctor told me to wait a month. He also said to break open a vitamin E capsule and use that. I have been watching my scar, and it is looking much better. I have about an inch of the old one at the beginning of it, and that one is barely visible.


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