Thursday, June 26, 2014

Scar Tissue

Since the shock and frustration of the outcome of my surgery, I am left to either dwell on it or move on. I am thankful that I am almost back to running and full activity. Though my shoe selection is somewhat bleak, a glass of wine and some wedges work well together.

From the get-go I was concerned about my incision scar. My doctor (ahem) assured me that he would stitch me in a way that blended well with the contour of my foot and that I would heal quickly and eventually not see the scar. For anyone who knows me well, and understands how obsessed I am with product and product knowledge - you can imagine my determination in making this scar disappear. Since my stitches were out, I have used coconut oil almost daily - as well as incorporating Mederma PM before bed and I have been overly diligent about putting at least an spf 50 on it every day, regardless of my sun exposure.

Currently I am not thrilled with my scar. It seems to be quite dark and slightly keloid at the location of my hardware (which will be taken out in my correction surgery). I do my best to massage the scar every other day with bio-oil or arnica. I am still bummed. My new surgeon has commented on what a poor job my previous doctor did with sewing me up. Even though I felt like "Frankenfoot" after my surgery - I had no idea the residual markings would be so defined.

In short, here are the things I would suggest to anyone in recovery and wondering about scarring, shoes, etc...

  • Massage your incision area with coconut oil daily (after it is fully healed)
  • alternate with bio-oil
  • PROMISE ME you will use SPF daily. Sun exposure will darken a scar and make it permanent. Enough said.
  • Do tons of toe stretching and massage
  • Mederma PM is great, their other products I cannot attest to, as I have not tried them
  • Embrace colorful Birkenstocks
  • Check out Fit Flops
  • Be patient
  • Walk as much as possible, test your boundaries

xo