Caring For Your Mastectomy Scar Post Surgery

by | Oct 9, 2024

Weeks 1 to 4:

Allow your body to heal for the first four weeks; simply drink plenty of  water, eat a good diet, rest and get good quality sleep. Using a mirror,
start to look at your scar and you will begin to see that your amazing body
is working hard to heal your wound. Some women can find this step quite
difficult emotionally so if you find this uncomfortable, please take time
with it and just give yourself a little exposure to your scar daily.
Make certain to follow the guidance of your breast team and be on the
lookout for extra redness or heat that might indicate the start of an
infection. This is much easier to deal with if caught early, so please be
sure to contact a member of the team for reassurance if you have any
concerns at all.

Weeks 4 to 6:

Once your scar has healed over which occurs at approximately four to six
weeks, a scab should have formed. As soon as this has happened, start to
very gently touch your scar as this will begin to desensitise the area.
Immature scars can sometimes feel extremely sensitive; if you find this is
the case with yours, cover it with a clean piece of cloth and touch through
on top of that.
Doing this for only a minute a day, in two thirty second sessions done
once in the morning and once more in the evening is enough to start this
process. If you forget to do a session don’t worry just start again the next
day.
Numbness in the area is normal and although this may not return
completely to pre surgery levels, gradually sensation will improve.

Weeks 6 to 8:

As soon as the scab has disappeared and healing looks good you can move on to the next stage. If you feel it doesn’t seem to be healing well,
seek the advice of your breast care nurse.
At this stage, it’s time to start moisturising. As soon as your scar is
starting to look more like normal skin, fully closed and clear, we don’t
want your body to continue to lay down even more scar tissue. This will
happen otherwise as our bodies protect themselves from losing water at
an injury site by laying down more scar tissue until satisfied that no more
moisture will be lost.

In order to persuade your body that this is no longer necessary, you should use a good quality moisturiser morning and night. You can seal in
the moisturiser by using a small amount of medical grade silicone gel
such as BAP Scarcare from  https://www.esperehealth.co.uk/  (no affiliation).
There are a few companies who make this type of gel.

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