How long did you stay out of the sun after your trachael shave? I googled a bit on scars and sun and read very contradicting opinions. Most surgeons seem to advice to stay out of the sun the first months after surgery but I also read opinions from people who claim that sunlight/tanning is good for scars.. I can hardly imagine that sunlight is good for scars the first months after surgery.. Any thoughts?

If I were you, I would just stop putting the scar in sunlight until it's stopped being so visible, which might well be many months. Well, you can also use sunscreen, but get a good one, since it's not just normal protection, but a medical recommendation. SPF 45 would be a minimum, I say. Should be fine as long as you don't actually go tan with your scar exposed.

Quote from: vivienne on December 10, 2012, 03:13:47 PM
How long did you stay out of the sun after your trachael shave? I googled a bit on scars and sun and read very contradicting opinions. Most surgeons seem to advice to stay out of the sun the first months after surgery but I also read opinions from people who claim that sunlight/tanning is good for scars.. I can hardly imagine that sunlight is good for scars the first months after surgery.. Any thoughts?

When I went to get dermabrasion done, my dermatologist told me to stay out of the sun or wear sun block. Nowadays I avoid sun burnsor anything that could end up as skin cancer. When I had my trachea shave done (by Dr Brassard) I ws told something similar: stay out of the sun which I did and buy vitamin E capsules and break them and rub the oil over the scar, which I also did. It took a while to go away. I want to say a good 2-3 years before it faded away into my neck.