Plastic surgeons strive to obtain hidden scars that are well camouflaged. The design and perfect execution of an operation goes a long way towards achieving this goal.

However with some operations the scar will always be visible and some parts of the body do heal with worse scarring than others. This is particularly true of the trunk, upper arms and thighs where the amount of tension on the wound can lead to widening of the scars. Some operation scars such as breast reduction or abdominoplasty can take a year or two to fully mature. There are specific plastic surgery techniques to minimise the risk of scar stretching that I will discuss with you at our consultation.

Unfortunately for some patients, their genetic make-up can make them prone forming hard, red, and thick hypertrophic scars which can be difficult to anticipate preoperatively. Others form similar keloid scars. Any previous scars that you may have can give an indication to the type of scars that may be produced later.  Again specific plastic surgery techniques are employed to obtain the best possible scars in these situations.

Another potential problem can be a hyperpigmented (darkened) scar. This is specially true with where there has been a superficial skin injury such as dermabrasion or chemical peel. This is usually due to sun exposure and can exacerbated with certain skin types, oral contraceptive pill (and other hormone treatment) and certain drugs. It is essential in the early stages to protect the scar from sun exposure