4 MONTH UPDATE (16 weeks)Hi, guys.
It has been 4 months, so I thought I would do an update. The picture does not indicate much change, and it is true that you really can't tell when comparing the two pictures.
However, there are a couple of things different with my chest:
* The scars are lighter. I would not say they are flatter than they were at 3 months, however.
* Although not noticeable on the last picture, the puckering along the incision lines has pretty much gone away.
* I feel feel hardly any pulling if I lift my arms straight up above my head, which was not the case just a month ago.
* The "puffiness" on either side under my arms where the drains were have decreased. On the right side it is completely gone and I feel no tenderness when I press on the area. The left side continues with some puffiness (although significantly less), and only slight tenderness when I press on it. I hope this area goes completely flat and I have more hopeful now since the right went all the way down. The left drain is the one that was more painful during the time the drains were in. Either the drain was put in with more of an angle or Garramone made this part of the bandage tighter on this side (I actually have some theories about the cut of my incision lines and how the drains were placed/tightened against my body based on Garramone being - I assume - right handed).
* The "spit suture" is completely filled in and probably was a week or so after my last update. On the whole it was not a big deal.
* I talked about how you could see small pieces of the areola being pulled away and stitched into the white background of the chest around the entire areola. Fortunately,it is smoothing/rounding out. I don't know how that works exactly, but I like the fact that my areolas no longer look sewn on like a child's homemade doll's eyes do (if that makes any sense).
* Since my 3 months update, I said in subsequent posts that that my scars seem to have widened. This is not accurate in looking at pictures. It may not be pencil thin, but I think it is still on the thinner end of what is most common. I think in looking at other people pictures it is really hard to tell width, anyway. Regardless, I believe that it will flatten and lighten quite well in time, based on another long scar I have on my body (colon resection).
SCAR TREATMENTSilicone treatment - I have changed my scar treatment. At the 3 months update I said that I had changed to the Scar Away serum because the strips were a hassle. The other thing about the strips is that they irritated my skin. Purely psychological or not, I felt like the strips were keeping the puckering along the incision lines from going away. A couple of weeks ago I tried the strips again. Waiting for the serum to dry (4-6 minutes), was not my favorite thing to do, being it is winter here. Yes, using a hair dryer was an option, but it still took awhile and I didn't like the high heat on my skin. Additionally, the serum needed to be reapplied before I got home from my relatively long workday. Moreover, it seemed like it made the scar dry. I found myself using lotion after first waking up prior to shower just to decrease the dryness. This lead me to reach back to trying the strips again after about 8 weeks on the serum.
The width of my incision allows me to use one strip for both sides as I can cut it lengthwise. My incisions are a bit longer on each side than the 7 inch strip, so I use 1.25 strips per week (as I have to add two small pieces). They stay on well and I am very pleased with them. They are NOT irritating my skin this time. I believe that this is a function of the strips being not as wide (I did not cut them in the past). It seems as though the strips irritate the surrounding skin, but not the scars. Less skin is being touched now that I am cutting them.
Massage - Massage has also been known to lighten/flatten scars. At the time of my 3 month update, I shared that I was using Bio Oil. Although there are no studies that actually prove that Bio Oil lightens/flatten scars (only anecdotal evidence), I figured that since I wanted to do massage anyway, why not use the Bio Oil. A few weeks later I found out that Bio Oil is indeed toxic for our bodies. I listed this in another post.
http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/160511/Bio-Oil_Scar_Treatment/Please consider stopping using this product and pass the information along to your friends.
With Bio Oil out, I needed another massage agent. Originally I purchased a 100% silicone lube (which worked fine), but I decided I really needed something that would moisturize the skin too, as although with the strips the scars do not get as dry as the serum did, using a lotion or some sort of moiturizer is still necessary for me.
I started a thread asking for opinions. I ended up going with an organic jojoba oil. It works fine, I really have nothing interesting to report on it.
In terms of working out/strength training, I really haven't gotten back in the game yet. I did start some cardio which pumps oxygen into our bloodstream. It makes sense to me that could be helpful to scar healing. I am still going to wait a couple of month be
fore working on my pecs/upper body. I know that scars widening is based on our bodies and not as much on what we do (unless we do really stupid stuff in the beginning), but my natural inclination is just to wait a bit more. I figure as long as I get it going in the Spring, my chest will look fine under t-shirts by summer!
Ok, so here is the picture. As stated in my first post, I am not on testosterone:
