Had a Cabg 18 wks ago and this left a sternum scar about five inches long.I think they use glue to close it rather than stitches and there was a dressing that stayed on for a few days.
The scar was quite scary to begin with but i didn't give it much thought.Then as i got better and my thoughts turned to holidays i wanted to be bare chested on the beach but not frighten the seafront camel we have become friendly with over a few holidays (Egypt obviously) or come to that the other holiday makers.Not just that, people pulling a face when they see a nasty scar, but also even pleasant comments such as, i see you had a bypass op.
To some degree i succeeded because the scar was barely noticeable and it was my wife pointing it out to people as being invisible that garnered the more attention.She'd been putting bio oil on it every day.
One of the people we had this conversation with was a doc and he pointed out that the line of the scar was slightly raised near the bottom.Not quite the perfect heal but you probably couldn't see it unless it was pointed out.This apparently was the body reacting to the glue and not the surgeon being slapdash.A keloid scar.This part i would say is about an inch long.
Anyway you can get some tape off Amazon that is supposed to stick on and get rid of even this which i am now doing.It's so small in the first place that's it's hard to say if i am succeeding and it may be wishful thinking but i think i am.
If i had my time again i would use the tape and the bio oil from the start, and i'm mentioning this so that anyone at the start of this journey can do so.Also any tips from the experience of others please share.
When i've mentioned this before some have said they wear their scar with pride but as a frequent holiday maker and gym user i'd rather it didn't draw peoples eyes or be the first thing they notice about me- admittedly my wife tells them anyway- and maybe the surgeon has a certain pride too and doesn't people on trust pilot calling him Zorro.
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bagsypartime
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Thank you Bekind you are a very nice person.I was lucky to have the op with hardly any wait, it got cancelled once because the number one (They did two a day and number one went down at 7am) took too long.I promised Zorro that i would be an easy number one and should never have been a number two in the first place and would help get his figures up and he agreed so i was done the following week.
I agree that i am a lot better off than someone who has had acid thrown in their face.
I have had a heart op, but with my shirt off even someone aware such as yourself wouldn't guess.Besides I get to play the wounded war hero often enough and don't think i don't go long on that and make them wish they'd never asked because my wife always tells everyone anyway.Explaining it to every other person is okay, but every single person is a bit much.It's my own fault.
Anyway thanks for your lonereply Be kind the sternum scar is not a big thing in the scheme of things but i don't see why i should have one if i don't want to.
My husband always used to really worry about frightening people with his scars. He used bio oil on it every day. He was worried about upsetting the grandchildren, but when they first saw it they were more interested than scared. Now after 4 years they are just fine delicate lines which are barely noticeable, especially being a man with hairy chest, arms and legs. I know it’s very different feelings when it’s your own body but please rest assured that the scarring is not something that people really notice.
Bio oil can be purchased in Boots/Superdrug, probably most places. It is marketed for scars, stretch marks, uneven skin tone. We were in Canada when my husband had his surgery and they recommended using Vitamin E oil (which he did) but I think the equivalent here is bio oil.
An interesting post, my scar is very noticeable and 3 years on still has patches of redness along it.
One of the questions I asked cardiac rehab, on one of the 2 telephone conversations I got to have with them (it was 2020), was about scar management and they, literally, laughed at me.
I was told not to worry about it and that, anyway, don’t men wear scars like a badge of honour, I was not impressed.
Hi BeKind28, I'm the opposite of you, I'm rather upset now that my scar is fading, I've even thought about having it tattooed back on..But hey we are all different 🙏🙂
I have lived with visible scars all my life. I have what i call the hand from "hell". If there was ever an accident it was on my left hand haha.
So another after the heart surgery didn't bother me. In fact it has been the start of many interesting conversations. Being female i did think it would bother me but fortunately it hasn't.
Scars do fade naturally so my new chest scar and very long leg scar from the operation are disappearing nicely.
I hope there comes a time when you forget yours are there and all the best for the future.
We all have a different perspective on our scar, some like yourself want the absolute minimum, others feel like the scar is the visible symbol of success.I think that I fall roughly in the middle, the wife was rather strong on the bio oil, actually bio gell but they are brothers from different mothers 😉.
But I am also toying with the idea of a tattoo of a needle and thread, 50/50 at the moment zips are also fairly common, after all being described as a member of the zipper club is something you can come across.
I don't do the gym that often but often go out rowing in a proper Rowing boat not a scull and once on a hot day after a impromptu race had a bit of a laugh seeing the look on the face of the twenty something who had lost.
Oh his shame not only beaten by a oldie but one with the remains of a hole in the middle of his chest.
Do what makes YOU feel best and good luck with that keloid,we need to feel our best, and kudos for not giving that poor camel nitemares.
I meant imagine the look on my wife's face (Lesley) if i told her i was to have a big tattoo of a needle and thread and heavy stitching on my chest.But if i announced it to a group as a fait accompli i'd imagine she'd be even madder and would have quite a lot to say.
Thanks for your humorous reply but i wasn't joking.
I was telling the truth about the camel, we repeat at the same hotel and it has it's own camel called Maxi, very often it's a different keeper that brings it around but it's always the same camel.He wears big sunglasses and a hat and gives rides and photos but mostly he will sit down with you and put his head in your lap while you have your photo taken.He's a very nice camel and will smile at you like a water melon- unlike some that hiss and spit.
He drinks water out of the bottle and holds his head up while he glugs and then doesn't want to give you the bottle back.We give him apples and oranges out of the all inclusive which you have to break in half first but his absolute favourite is banana and if i wave one in front of him he will chase me following the scent.
You might think we all look the same, sun loungers, swimming shorts, white bodies but in a pavlovian way maxi knows us (Because of apples water etc) and will often completely abandon what he is doing even if he has someone on him to come and say hello.
Our visit this time coincided with a fatal shark attack about twenty minutes up the shoreline from us and so avoiding swimming in the sea we didn't go to the bit where we usually interact with Maxi.We are going again in sept.
Hi I got the op in 2020 but my scar is about 10 inches long, at first I was a bit self conscious but now I hardly think about it at all, I have 7 scars in total, icd in and out plus drains and I can't remember what else, most are small silver lines that show more if I have been on hols because they don't tan. I just used aqueous cream after OHS I found it great for taking the glue off my scar and I still use it all the time. One thing I will say is don't be like chary and get it burnt! I missed a part of my big scar when putting sun cream on, it was cloudy so I never noticed until later. Ooft it was blistered and so sore and itchy right in the middle on a knobbly bit where my skin is thin. It then scabbed over and now it's a dark patch and still feels tender. I have definitely learned a lesson there. My dermatologist will not be happy because of my meds I am supposed to be very vigilant about the sun and use factor 50 at all times. I hope you have a great holiday and the keloid goes away, char
Nice cheerful reply char i have three big dimples too where the drain tubes were.These are more prominent than my scar but at least they are symmetrical.The raised keloid part is only a blemish i'm just trying to get rid of it for the sake of neatness.We've had that holiday and are going again in sept.I'm very bad and hardly use suncream and i do lay in it all day.Years ago i had antibiotics while in the sun and it took years for my skin to be an even tone.
We are away on Tuesday to lido di jesolo and I will definitely be more careful, mine isn't keloid but it's very lumpy probably because I am so thin so the wires are quite prominent yet another reason for getting burnt 🥵 the factor 50 is packed I just need to use it 😅🌞char
Scars, that timely reminder of what we have gone though,
I have had open heart surgery like your self and the scar has been added to the cancer lymphadenectomy one that I already had.
So now I have a scar that runs from the top of my chest to my pubic area , neatly running around my belly button. I look like I've been made in two half 's add to that the sun makes it bright red so I have to put total block on it, {white } you can imagine how much mine shows. oh and they are Keloid as well { lumpy }
This reply is just to make you feel better, it is what it is with me, but I can tell that yours are upsetting you.
There are a lot of things that can improve them from collagen patches to injections, but a good talk with your Dr will give you the options, as for mine? well there a part of me now and my changing body, folks can stare all they like, but I charge for photos !
I like that you charge for photos.I'm sort of famous too, but not in a good way.I've been mentioned on trip advisor several times negatively on different holidays , hotels, and continents (i swan around like i own the place and don't book the ala carts and constantly get VIP'd etc.Mr and Mr's- insert name of hotel.In other words i get unwarranted special treatment.)
It's very embarrassing when a review like this goes up and you are still there and other guests are wondering who this self entitled idiot is.No idea why, but this has happened more than once to me, so my scar is not that big a deal compared to some of the humbling experiences i've had and maybe it's karma.
Hi bagsypartime,
I've had a scar for 29years now, and came to the conclsion donkeys years ago, that most people couldn't care less if you have a scar or not. In that time, very few people have mentioned it.
I'm now on my Mk3 version, which I dare say is the best it's ever been, looking back, its much tidier than the Mk1. It's barely notiecable these days, particularly with a good sun tan.
Although my scarring was very visible to begin with I was not worried as had to deal with post op stroke. As an older woman I have a number of healed scars but feel lucky to be alive and have had things fixed . My attitude is if folk don't like them they don't have to look!Thankfully some are covered at my age!
JUst remember that the scar has to have healed completely before using bio oil. I had a breast biopsy 50 years ago which I think was stitched by someone who liked model trains because it looked just like train tracks; raised up half an inch with livid red lines across it. I discovered bio oil some 30 years later and it got rid of it completely apart from a fine silver line. It's now completely flat and almost invisible.
hi. You can use silicone scar gel on your scar although it’s quite expensive. The best I’ve tried is dermatix although nourisil is better value as you get more. I used silicone gel from about 2 weeks after my surgery for a year. My scar has faded quite a bit and is very soft but I think it would have faded regardless after a year. I really don’t know if it fades scars but my skin is very soft and didn’t itch where I used it. I cover up in the sun and use moisturiser on the scar every day now.
If i'd known about this i definitely would have used it. My wife might have kept it from me. She's cheap and cheerful and i have to use whatever's on the shower wall in the hotel while she has all the hair products going.
The existence of this silicon scar gel is good info for post op people.I believe part of recovery is taking back control- such as doing something positive about your scar.I don't believe the badge of honour thing.
you can use it on old scars too and it definitely helps with any discomfort from tight scars. They used to prescribe it on the NHS but no longer do so. It’s about £25 for a tiny tube but it lasts for ages as you only need a very small amount.
There’s also a charity called Changing Faces who offer a scar camouflage assessment. They offer a free 1 hour appointment to colour match your scar to camouflage cream and show you how to apply it. The camouflage cream is available on the NHS. Obviously if your scar doesn’t bother you then that’s fantastic but for people who really struggle it’s a great service.
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