I had chicken pox last year and now have 15 holes on my face.
I have done a lot of intensive research on excision as I have had restylane, C02, Non-ablative laser and although much improved, I can see I will always have a huge hole on my forehead which is always going to be visible in certain lighting.
Hence, I really want to get this and another on my cheek just under my eye next to my nose, excised.
I found this study http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2006/08/8127.html and many others which say that Botox injections on the tension lines near and around the scar stop the tension when the scar heals and hence results in a thinner, flatter more acceptable scar.
I went to see a surgeon who I already kind of knew before I had Chicken Pox and when i asked him about this he said it indeed is true and he in fact does this for every excision/mole excision that he performs.
He also said that if he were to excise it he would put a layer of subcutaneous stitches which dissolve and are extremely fine underneath the scar so close it, and on top he would use skin glue such as dermabond. This would make sure that it doesn't sink back down like excisions of acne or chicken pox scars can, and the skin glue would prevent any marks or scars from stitches although he did stress the resulting scar is not about whether glue or sutures were used, but more on the technique of the surgeon and technique of stitches used. My scar i want removed which is on my forehead lies in a tension line and is on my forehead so will be easier to glue than others. Also, he said there is a small chance he may have to use very fine sutures if the glue wasn't giving him the desirable result or working ect.
So, has anyone had this done and if so, how did it turn out and do you have pics?
I haven't got a photo yet and to be honest, I don't want to put any up however, if I have this and it is successful I promise I will put up my surgeons very close up photos! I am really embarrassed and no matter how hard i try I cannot take a decent close up photo of them on my phone.
They are simply just chicken pox scars and are quite spread out on my face. The ones that bother me most is a 3 by 2 mm circle on my forehead nearly in the middle and close to my eyebrows and one under my eye next to my nose. These make me look horrible and the rest would be more acceptable if these were gone as they are in the most noticeable uncover-able places and the biggest and deepest!
Any thoughts and advice much appreciated! I noticed this topic about botox and excision has only be mentioned once here and got no replies so thought as well as helping me, may help others as I have read of many excisions going wrong and this technique *could* be used to re-excise scars too. If you look at the study that scar was a scar revision for a scar which was already there..
i have never heard of this technique before and i have been on the org for 7 years . this seems really interesting i will keep an eye on this. to answer your question no one has ever done this or posted there experience with this technique ever trust me i would of came across it along time ago. i would say go for it if your confident in the surgeons skill. thats what it boils down to in the end....
Thanks for your reply! Yes i think it is a medically proven thing judging by several studies and the fact that when i asked my surgeon he didn't look at me like I was an alien! Do you check that buffalo uni link out? Could be fake I know, but it all makes sense and nothing to lose from botox combined with excision. Surely it can only help. I also scoured the boards and only found topics with no replies, but thought my post may prompt someone to say "oh yeah, I had that done" haha wishful thinking!
Apparently that is one of the main reasons for excisions scars being wide and not being as good a scar, because the tension makes it difficult to heal properly. It all makes sense doesn't it? I cannot find a review for it on here or realself though!!
I know I will still have a scar, but I am hoping it will just be a lot more of an acceptable scar! Do you happen to know if anyone has had a scalpel excision with skin glue and/or underlying dissolvable stiches? I hear of a lot of failed excisions and would really like to know if any had actually had subcutaneous stitches so that I can assess if that could have been a problem..
I had chicken pox last year and now have 15 holes on my face.
I have done a lot of intensive research on excision as I have had restylane, C02, Non-ablative laser and although much improved, I can see I will always have a huge hole on my forehead which is always going to be visible in certain lighting.
Hence, I really want to get this and another on my cheek just under my eye next to my nose, excised.
I found this study http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2006/08/8127.html and many others which say that Botox injections on the tension lines near and around the scar stop the tension when the scar heals and hence results in a thinner, flatter more acceptable scar.
I went to see a surgeon who I already kind of knew before I had Chicken Pox and when i asked him about this he said it indeed is true and he in fact does this for every excision/mole excision that he performs.
He also said that if he were to excise it he would put a layer of subcutaneous stitches which dissolve and are extremely fine underneath the scar so close it, and on top he would use skin glue such as dermabond. This would make sure that it doesn't sink back down like excisions of acne or chicken pox scars can, and the skin glue would prevent any marks or scars from stitches although he did stress the resulting scar is not about whether glue or sutures were used, but more on the technique of the surgeon and technique of stitches used. My scar i want removed which is on my forehead lies in a tension line and is on my forehead so will be easier to glue than others. Also, he said there is a small chance he may have to use very fine sutures if the glue wasn't giving him the desirable result or working ect.
So, has anyone had this done and if so, how did it turn out and do you have pics?
I haven't got a photo yet and to be honest, I don't want to put any up however, if I have this and it is successful I promise I will put up my surgeons very close up photos! I am really embarrassed and no matter how hard i try I cannot take a decent close up photo of them on my phone.
They are simply just chicken pox scars and are quite spread out on my face. The ones that bother me most is a 3 by 2 mm circle on my forehead nearly in the middle and close to my eyebrows and one under my eye next to my nose. These make me look horrible and the rest would be more acceptable if these were gone as they are in the most noticeable uncover-able places and the biggest and deepest!
Any thoughts and advice much appreciated! I noticed this topic about botox and excision has only be mentioned once here and got no replies so thought as well as helping me, may help others as I have read of many excisions going wrong and this technique *could* be used to re-excise scars too. If you look at the study that scar was a scar revision for a scar which was already there..
hey who are you getting excision with if u don't want to post it here please pm me i too am thinking of getting excision.
Its actually someone I knew before i had chicken pox. He doesnt really do excision, he does a lot of real plastic surgery though. I am unsure if he would want me to post his name here. However, if i have it done, and it goes well, I will certainly ask him. He may want people coming to him for that or he may not. But talking from experience, i highly suggest you email some surgeons or go and visit some who you think sound good.. A good surgeon will have a good technique and should be informed or happy to put botox in and use dissolvable stiches combined with glue if appropriate. So i am told, the glue is not going to make much difference, its all about the surgeon but it will obviously prevent track marks. Where are you based? I am in the UK.
By the way, they hardly advertise excision as something they do, find one who specialises in mole removal or something similar and go and meet them.
Its actually someone I knew before i had chicken pox. He doesnt really do excision, he does a lot of real plastic surgery though. I am unsure if he would want me to post his name here. However, if i have it done, and it goes well, I will certainly ask him. He may want people coming to him for that or he may not. But talking from experience, i highly suggest you email some surgeons or go and visit some who you think sound good.. A good surgeon will have a good technique and should be informed or happy to put botox in and use dissolvable stiches combined with glue if appropriate. So i am told, the glue is not going to make much difference, its all about the surgeon but it will obviously prevent track marks. Where are you based? I am in the UK.
By the way, they hardly advertise excision as something they do, find one who specialises in mole removal or something similar and go and meet thehey
hey thanks for the response i am also in the UK so can you please pm your surgeons name i have been searching for a while on someone good to do excision but unfortunately i haven't found anyone so it would be appreciated