Ughhh, hypertrophic scar!

[Courtnoo]

My recovery has been fabulous for the most part, but when I saw my doctor a week ago for my 11 week check up, he said I had some "hypertrophic scar tissue" growing on my incision scar. But only on the upper half of it. What the heck? Anyone else have experience with this? What are my options? Doc said to rub lotion/cream on the scar twice a day, putting pressure down on the scar tissue. I'm hoping it will just fade away in time. :-\

 

[cotton1958]

One of my knees also has this, just on the top. OS called it a Keloid. I do not think there is anything they can do about it. He, PT, and PA said to use Vitamin E and lotion etc. and rub the scars to break them up...both from the beginning up until my last visit last week.

Interestingly, the part that keloided, is the part where my incision split a little bit early on.

 

[Josephine]

I found this explanation

hypertrophic scars are characterized by erythematous, pruritic, raised fibrous lesions that typically do not expand beyond the boundaries of the initial injury and may undergo partial spontaneous resolution

Just so you know!

Also this

Hypertrophic scars and keloids can be described as variations of typical wound healing. In a typical wound, anabolic and catabolic processes achieve equilibrium approximately 6-8 weeks after the original injury. At this stage, the strength of the wound is approximately 30-40% that of healthy skin. As the scar matures, the tensile strength of the scar improves as a result of progressive cross-linking of collagen fibers. At this point, the scar is usually hyperemic and it may be thickened, but it tends to subside gradually over months until a flat, white, pliable, possibly stretched, mature scar has developed. When an imbalance occurs between the anabolic and catabolic phases of the healing process, more collagen is produced than is degraded, and the scar grows in all directions. The scar is elevated above the skin and remains hyperemic. Excessive fibrous tissue is classified as either a keloid or a hypertrophic scar.

Consider yourself educated! :hehe:

https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1057599-overview

 

[FrogFeathers]

Mine has been completely flat for months now and my OS said it wasn't a Keloid- he never really gave it a name, but when I asked, he said, "No, I wouldn't call it that."

Mine will never turn white (in Josephine's quote). But that's just part of what makes me and my dad interesting to surgeons.