Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hey guys,

Been lurking around the forums for over a year now, and finally decided to post and ask some questions that's been on my mind lately, because I didn't find answers by searching online or here.

I had my top surgery 8 weeks ago (double incision) , and my PS told me to wear Micropore tape over my incisions for at least 5 months, and put Kelo-Cote under it and do it all over again every 3-4 days.
She told me to do this, so my scars wouldn't stretch.

Well, that made me a bit confused, because I've understood, that silicone gel should be applied every day, preferably twice a day. I've asked her about this, but she didn't see any problem with this kind of method.
By doing the way my PS told me to do, I don't know if I would get the best results. That's why I'm here asking other people's opinions and how they've dealt with their post-op care.

I'd like to know, has your surgeon mentioned anything about preventing scars from stretching or is it ok to only use silicone gel/sheeting from now on?
I reside in Scandinavia, Europe and apparently things are done way differently over in the US, as far as I know.

Do you guys use anything for the scars around your nipples? I was told to put Kelo-Cote on them as well.

My scars have become hypertrophic, which is making me worry a bit, so that's why I'd want to do everything that I can to make them heal nicely, flatten and whiten over time.

Thanks!

-Elias

Hi Elias, welcome to Susan's. I look forward to seeing you around the site. Others will be along that can answer your question though. Good luck and Hugs
Mariah


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Scar stretching has more to do with how active you are post op and your body, not what scar treatment you use.

If you go back to doing physical work, or exercising or even moving your arms too much after surgery that will all contribute to stretching and no matter what u use on your scars it wont help

Also ive noticed no matter what a guy uses on his scars....whether they remain dark and raised....or flat and light depends on how the individual body heals not what he used on them

I heard 100% silicone is the best scar treatment to use for the first 8 months post op....i prefer the gel over the strips cause the strips didnt stick to me and the gel lets u massage it into your scars

I'm a year and 3 months post op and now I'm using aloe plants, breaking off the leaves

Thanks Mariah!

Quote from: AleksiJason on May 04, 2015, 10:19:36 AM
Scar stretching has more to do with how active you are post op and your body, not what scar treatment you use.

If you go back to doing physical work, or exercising or even moving your arms too much after surgery that will all contribute to stretching and no matter what u use on your scars it wont help

Also ive noticed no matter what a guy uses on his scars....whether they remain dark and raised....or flat and light depends on how the individual body heals not what he used on them

I heard 100% silicone is the best scar treatment to use for the first 8 months post op....i prefer the gel over the strips cause the strips didnt stick to me and the gel lets u massage it into your scars

I'm a year and 3 months post op and now I'm using aloe plants, breaking off the leaves

Thanks for your input, AleksiJason!

Actually forgot to mention that even if I've been very active with gym for years, I haven't been working out for the past 8 weeks, only some light walking. Haven't been raising my arms either, pretty much been T-Rexing the whole time,lol.
My scars still stretched a bit, even if I've been taping them and not been raising my arms.

My PS said that the scars can stretch up till 5 months post-op, but I see none of the other dude's taping their incisions, just using silicone treatment and then heading back to the gym after 6-8 weeks. I don't know if it's about genetics, that if your scars stretch or not?

She also told me, that I could have went to the gym already at 3 weeks post-op, if I taped my incisions well with Micropore, but I felt like I would just damage my body, so I didn't do that.

Quote from: Elias on May 04, 2015, 11:01:38 AM
Thanks Mariah!

Thanks for your input, AleksiJason!

Actually forgot to mention that even if I've been very active with gym for years, I haven't been working out for the past 8 weeks, only some light walking. Haven't been raising my arms either, pretty much been T-Rexing the whole time,lol.
My scars still stretched a bit, even if I've been taping them and not been raising my arms.

My PS said that the scars can stretch up till 5 months post-op, but I see none of the other dude's taping their incisions, just using silicone treatment and then heading back to the gym after 6-8 weeks. I don't know if it's about genetics, that if your scars stretch or not?

She also told me, that I could have went to the gym already at 3 weeks post-op, if I taped my incisions well with Micropore, but I felt like I would just damage my body, so I didn't do that.

I am doing the silicone gel 1-2x daily and I'm amost 2 months post-op. I tried the strips but can't get them to stay on past the first application, so I switched to gel. I am just now starting back to working out, my surgeon told me I was ok to do anything after ~6 weeks post-op. I don't use any silicone on my nipples, just keep them moisturized with cocoa butter. I would usually say listen to your surgeon no matter what, but you may want to get a second opinion from another surgeon just to be sure. Good luck!!

I was told I could start scar treatment if I so desired once my incision lines were completely closed. I wasn't told anything specific regarding the nipples. Mine are still scabbed and healing, so not currently sure if they will require any special attention.

My surgeon's advice differed based on activity level. If you are mostly sedentary, she said to go with strips. More active, gel. I don't think you would hurt anything to do both at the same time. I think her recommendations were just from a logistics standpoint (more movement, greater chance for sweat, greater chance for strips to loosen or come off).

I have a pack of strips and will be starting them over the weekend when I am less active. My skin along and near the incision is really dry, so I've been using cocoa butter. I can't say that it's helped or hurt anything. BUT, I also don't particularly care either way how my scars look.

I would say ask your surgeon to clarify, and then maybe follow up with your personal doctor and see if the opinion is the same.

I have heard of a guy that didn't use his arms for a year and lost movement in them. After he got them working again the scars still stretched. If the scars want to stretch they will.

From a personal perspective, I'd be more concerned about how light the scars were or if they were a keloid, not so much about stretching. It would be torture for me to not be active cuz of worrying about scar stretching, so I'm going to just be diligent about applying scar gel and hope for the best. I have excellent experience in the past with some dollar store scar gel honestly, but I ordered some stuff from Sweden called hiroscar that I'm going to use too. I've heard that silicone strips are best for keloids, but if they're too annoying I'd just use scar creme instead

Never used silicone anything at all - my surgeon only recommended micropore for 3 months.

Welcome to Susan's Elias...

Hope to see you about the forums...and enjoy  :-*

L Katy

Thanks guys for your input on this!

So apparently there's all kinds of different info going on here. Some just use gel, some strips, and some micropore, but not for too long. Apparently some guys' nips stretch and some won't. Of course we're all individuals and there's not just one way of doing things.

I do agree the fact, that if you don't move your arms at all, it's gonna hurt in the long run. I've been really carefully trying to raise my arms to lateral level in the past few days, and see how I feel.
When did you guys started to raise arms completely up?

Thankfully I don't seem to have keloid scarring, more likely hypertrophic, especially more towards outside (armpit side), which are thicker and red. It's completely light pink already and thin on the mid to inner side, which surprises me a lot.

I finally went to the gym today, which felt really great! It's been really tough mentally not being able to work out! Although didn't feel great to pick up the super light dumbbells, but I just kept telling myself, that I shouldn't rush into anything, so I wouldn't regret it later on. 

Quote from: katrinaw on May 05, 2015, 08:59:02 AM
Welcome to Susan's Elias...

Hope to see you about the forums...and enjoy  :-*

L Katy

Thank you!  ;) I'm sure I will!