Scar Tissue Worries

[Mr Man]

Hi Guys,

I am 12 weeks post op now having had surgery with Dr. Karidis and I am very pleased with the results (before & after photos attached). However, the scar tissue is definitely worrying me a little. I have a band of the stuff just below my armpit on the left-hand side (photo attached) and when I lift my arm up, it seems to create some craters and unevenness in the skin.

I have been massaging from around 10 days post-op, twice a day for 5-10 minutes on each side. Recently, I have been trying to break down the scar tissue so hard that I have actually managed to bruise my chest a few times. Hopefully this didn't worsen the problem and increase the scar tissue, but maybe someone could advise if this could be the case?

I have just bought an electric massager to help break it down, but whilst it does appear to be getting softer, there is no sign of it going at the moment. How much massaging / pressure does it take to get rid of it and will scar tissue just go on its own if I stop massaging? I'm unsure on the best way to treat scar tissue after 12 weeks and beyond.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers.

[joe7]

It's a long shot, but if you have some money to burn you could try supplementing with Serrapeptase:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Serrapeptase-250-000IU-Enteric-Delivery/dp/B018UL73KU/ref=sr_1_1?m=AJW26JM3GU9RQ&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1498914833&sr=1-1

"Clinical studies have shown it to be effective at reducing swelling and edema and metabolizing scar tissue in the body."

I've also read anecdotal stories about it working, but I'm still skeptical. I've just bought myself some anyway (3 weeks post op) so I'll see what happens. I scar like a mofo so I'm more than happy to throw money at anything that might reduce scar tissue.

By the way your results are great and tbh even if it didn't improve I'd be very happy with that result. Hell, even The Rock doesn't have perfect results and he still looks awesome:

http://topcelebritysurgery.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Dwayne-Johnson-Plastic-Surgery-Picture.jpg

[realveer]

Stopped by only to compliment on your perfect result!
It looks great!

[Captainsparrow]

You're very early days. As a person who currently has a huge amount of old rock hard scar tissue myself from years back...

I would say keep massaging, if it's still there about say 9 months or so get it looked at by your surgeon if it bugs you that much or isn't decreasing

I left mine too late and now I'll likely have to have a third revision op and or injections.

From what I've seen on you don't get many answers regarding scar tissue on this forum (like my thread for example). And replies from surgeons on the topic are few and far between. But you have good results thus far. Keep up with the massaging!

[Mr Man]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I am really pleased with the result, regardless of the scar tissue. Dr. Karidis did a fantastic job and I feel very lucky / relieved to have come out the other side without any significant imperfections.

Thanks for the advice Captainsparrow. Some people only seem to massage for the first couple of months, but to be honest, I'll probably keep it going to one degree or another for much of the first year. Hopefully, the small area of concern will dissipate over time.

I just had a read of your other thread and I feel for you. Out of interest, did you massage regularly after the first op? Also, who was your surgeon? Depending on where you are, this lady might be able to help you: http://www.massagetherapies.co.uk/scar-massage-and-tissue-release The information on her site is great, but unfortunately, she is based in Scotland, and I live in London! Hopefully, this recent op will have helped improve things for you, and you'll be able to sort the rest via professional massage therapy.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

[Captainsparrow]

Hey buddy, no worries.

If I'm honest I didn't massage all that much, for one because The importance of it wasn't relayed to me...

And I had a haematoma in my right side where the tissue is so there was a lot of pain and looked ugly for a long time.

So I got used to avoiding the area completely really.

I've actually bought some serrapeptase myself....will see what happens with that.

My first surgery was with a Mr Khan from transform, I appreciate that surgery is difficult and results vary but my results were poor. My revision was with Dr Rochira who provided better results (mainly trying to fix the errors from Khan).


Oh I live in London also, so yeah that trip to Scotland doesn't sound likely haha.


What massager did you buy? I think I need an electric massager.

In any case I'm visiting The surgeon in a few weeks. Going to show him my concerns and hope he can provide a solution.

[imtakinemout]

I read scar tissue may go away on its own in a year or so. Massage has no evidence to back that it actually helps. I massaged for a few days, but noticed that I hurt more after, so I don't massage anymore. I'm 7 weeks post-op.

[Life's too short]

There's probably no evidence that massage works because it's not something that can be tested and verified. If the gyno tissue goes away over 6 months or so there is no way of knowing if it was the massaging or if it "went away on it's own". Especially given the time frame. 

You could ask 50 guys not to massage and see if they keep scar tissue more than others but of course nobody is going to volunteer themselves for that. 

[Mr Man]

Better to be safe than sorry I feel. I have read a few posts where people who didn't massage that much / at all and have been left with scar tissue issues. One example:

https://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/index.php?topic=32319.0

I would rather air on the side of caution and massage regularly than not at all. To be honest, I don't know if this is the best thing and for all I l know I am making it worse by doing do. As I said before, I have even bruised my chest in the past from massaging too hard / too much. As per Karidis' notes, I followed the rule 'if it hurts, the ease up on the massaging pressure' but I still managed to bruise myself. The notes from Karidis do state just how important massage is to your recovery and do advise more vigorous, deeper massage to break down the scar tissue, but do say not to overdo it. Maybe I have done this, but who knows. I shall really ease up for a week and we shall see.

Life's too short, I received two lots of notes from Karidis: One before the surgery and one after. Both stressed the importance of regular massage but both were slightly different in terms of the length of times you need to keep it up for and when you should begin. I would suggest reading both if you were given them and follow what it says as best as you can. From memory, one advises to start massaging from the second week (which I did after 9 days), and the other states after 2-3 weeks. There is quite a bit of conflicting information between the two sheets concerning how to approach the massaging, so you'll have to make a judgement call on how best to proceed.

Captainsparrow, this is the massager that I bought and it's great actually. I use it with BioOil and it feels good. Who knows if it's going to help or not, but to be honest, just massaging manually with my hands didn't seem to be reducing the scar tissue enough so I thought I'd give it a try.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Naipo-Handheld-Percussion-Interchangeable-Wide-range/dp/B01M661ZX0/ref=pd_sim_121_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=65A3GSZRXWF36M3HTBZM

Good luck fellas and let us know how you get on. I will keep you posted.

[longdrives]

I am 5 weeks post op tomorrow and I bought a pizza roller on Amazon, looks like a 4 inch wood roller and 2 inch on other side.  I have been using that as the lumps come in throughout the day for past two weeks, it works amazing.  I can literally roll out the lumps and soften them up.  My chest is healing great.  I do have some swelling below my nips still but it's going down slowly but surely.  For 3.88 it was worth it.  Here it is mate.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000HK2DNA/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Mr Man]

Thanks Longdrives! I'll give it a bash!

[longdrives]

Awesome Mr. Man, let me know how it goes.  I'm interested to see if its only me or if you have same experience.  

[smoothd]

these scars effects the function of the muscles too and injures the facia.. scar tissues never behave like normal tissues.. it can also effect the performance of the muscles and other structures in the body
this is why i think gyno surgery is very bad unless u have like realy severe gyno... try to avoid it if you have small man boobs and learn to love yourslef
i realy think doctors should avoid the surgery and work on some new solutions instead
i had this surgery myself, i lost sensation in my nipple and aroud it for life and also moving my hands around doesnt feel natural due to the scar tissues... i wish i could go back in time and never do this surgery.

[Cristalis]

Mr Man, do you have it on both sides or just on one side? Is it also obvious when flexing chest muscles or when rising arms?