Skin Care Routine

Scars and Plastic Surgery

As people learn about plastic surgery, and how it is performed, they may have questions about incisions, scars and healing. If plastic surgery is to improve the appearance of your body, won’t scars work against that beauty?

Plastic surgery is focused on improving appearance, and on making that appearance look natural. For this reason, all the incisions that are made for plastic surgery procedures are calculated to be hard to detect visually, as much as is possible. The tools used in surgery are built for the same purpose. The techniques used to close incisions are specifically meant to leave minimal scarring.

For breast implants and breast augmentation, for example, the incisions are made under the breast or in the underarm. They should be difficult to see from any casual observer on the beach, for example. For tummy tucks, the idea is similar. The incision that is made below the waist line, so that any scarring is hidden by clothing. After the stiches are removed and the person has some time to heal, it should be hard to tell that surgery even happened.

The whole issue of scarring is important when deciding which plastic surgeon in Salt Lake City to choose. A well-trained, experienced surgeon will be able to make the scars less visible, and will make the result better.

Dr. Petersen will answer all of your questions about potential scars, what your body will look like after surgery, and make sure you feel comfortable about every aspect of the procedure, especially recovery.

Make sure you follow his directions for post-surgery care. This can be important for making sure incisions heal properly, which can influence the appearance of scars. You’ll probably need a few weeks before it is safe to begin exercising. There are products you can put on a healed incision to help improve a scar’s appearance, such as scar guard. Also using sun screen is crucial because sun exposure will darken the scar, making it more visible.

Recovery time for facial plastic surgery will be a little different, but the same principles apply. A plastic surgeon will do everything he can to make it seem like surgery never happened, and to give your appearance a natural feel.