Question:
Scar is not flat, what can I do?

I had open RNY on 8/7/02 and have lost 50 pounds so far, I also had a hernia when I had my surgery that they repaired, so my scar runs from my breast bone to my bikini line. The problem is this: my scar is flat from my belly button down, but from my belly button up it starts rising and is pretty pronounced by the time it reaches my breast bone. Its also very tender at times and lumpy like cottage cheese. I go see my surgeon on 11/15/02 and just wanted to know if anybody else has had this problem or if anyone thinks I should be concerned about this.    — leeann N. (posted on October 19, 2002)

October 19, 2002
It sounds like it might be a keloid scar. Is it reddish, shiny, and rubbery looking? You might try getting silicone sheeting and wearing it over the scar. It's supposed to help, though it takes a long time.
   — Celia A.

October 19, 2002
Sound like my scare. I am going to the doctor on Monday and this is one question I'm going to ask. I will let you know the answer....... Also the first poster has a good idea--now where to find the silicone sheets..
   — barbara A.

October 19, 2002
Keloids can be very painful, as well as ugly. I've certainly had plenty. Looks like an earthworm, red, ropey, pulls, burns, itches? Some don't hurt, of course. The dermatologist has injected mine to make it lie down flat. INJECTIONS?!? Teensy needle, hurts for about 4 secs. Mine are very stubborn, so some parts took a few series, some went flat on the first set. In the meantime, I used Scargo to fade them out. I had my RNY 10/94, and TT 11/95, so started over. Got it flat, faded & blam,needed a revision 1/2000, so started over AGAIN. Sigh. Parts are wide, all is faded, and one little hunk just will NOT give up. But then, *I* have not given up either. I'm gonna shoot it again.
   — vitalady

October 20, 2002
I had my surgery 7/11/02 and my scar sounds like it's similar to yours. From my belly button up to my "love handles" it's smooth and fading nicely. Then there is like an X in the middle and from there up it's a little raised and more red than the rest of my scar. When I asked my surgeon about it, he said it was normal. I think that's where they had my incision spread open the widest. I also had some problems with a couple spots not healing up near the top of my scar so I think that could be part of it. My g-tube scar didn't heal so nice either and it's red and bumpy like the top part of my big scar. And even though I'm 4 months post-op I still get little sharp pains around my scar. I've just been massaging mine with vitamin E oil every day and that seems to be helping.
   — Tanya B.

October 20, 2002
My scar was just like yours! I went to a dermatologist and had Kenaolg injected into it and it flattened it right down.
   — Lynette B.

October 20, 2002
Hi!<br> I'm almost 3 mos post op, and my scar sort of looks like an earthworm landed on my stomach. It does seem to be flattening out in spots, but it's still wide. At our support group meeting last week, we were all comparing scars, and everyone else's was skinny and prettier than mine. :::whine::: My mom said her c-section scar did the same thing, so apparently genetics are not on my side. :-( <br> Kelly
   — Kelly B.

October 20, 2002
Welcome to the world of keloids. No fun! Between my Open RNY and a spleenectomy, my stomach looks like a railroad track. I have found, however, that while my pre-RNY spleenectomy scar was itchy and painful, especially as I gained weight, my RNY scar has gotten less tender as time goes on and I lose more and more weight. Actually, if I get down on my hands and knees and look at my bare stomach, the keloid scar looks like a zipper coming out of my skin. Hmm. But it doesn't really bother me and I don't use anything on it. I guess my point with this post was just that keloid scars are more tender if they are stretched out with weight gain (have experience with this on my knee and belly), but don't feel all that bad if you don't stretch them.
   — PT LawMom