Re: Feelings...and scarring hope

March 13, 2006

Hi Christee,

You've had so many supportive replies; I think you've spoken the

words for many other hearts, thank you.

I thought you might be interested in some options to help reduce

scarring. Our son had an unfortunate, nasty accident over the

Christmas holidays (that's a 'did it really have to happen this way,

God, hasn't he been through enough?'for me) and now we know the

latest. Here it is, straight from the plastic surgeon:

Massage a product named Mederma into the area 3x/day, 10 min. each

time.

Apply a product containing silicone 12 hours/day (Scarguard,

Kelocote, I think Neosporin has a product, there are more). These

are either in patch form or a gel that looks a little like super

glue both when wet and dry, and coats the skin with a thin layer. We

use the glue type stuff, no way a patch will stay on a two year old,

and just put it on after the massage.

Do this for 3 months.

In my internet hunting, it sounds like this is helpful even if the

scars aren't fresh. Some people seem to have a better response than

others, and children have the best chance at maximum reduction. In

our case, the scars (one was at least 1/2 in thick or deep) have

reduced in thickness my half so far, and are much more flexible. I

massage with at least a moderate amount of pressure, and at times I

can actually feel the thickened tissue break up under my fingers.

Zeke tells me if it's too much pressure, but most of the time he

leans into my hand as though it feels good.

Mederma, $16/7 oz.; Scarguard, $30; ouch! but if you're careful this

can get you through 3 mos. Available OTC at pharmacies. At first

the massage time was a pain to fit into life (to put it mildly...),

but now that it is part of our routine, it's actually become a nice

snuggle time with a normally wiggly boy (he likes the tv time, a

treat for him...)

All the best,

Caroline

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