scarring and ethnicity

[kpuz]

I'm sure this topic has been discussed but I couldn't find what I was looking for using the search function.
I am going for a consultation for puffy nipple gynecomastia surgery and was wondering about any scars that will be visible after surgery. I would like to know if scarring is more visible for people with darker skin (I am south-asian)? The answer will determine whether I get the surgery where the incision is made at the nipple or under the arm-pit. Thanks in advance.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Yes, some ethnicities have a propensity for thickened scars -- but there is extreme variability within each ethnic group.  I have operated on men and women from all racial and ethnic backgrounds and have had some absolutely wonderful scars in all of them. 

Sometimes, if a patient has had prior surgery, infections, accidents, acne, etc, one can see how they tend to heal and perhaps extrapolate ad to how they might heal with gyne surgery.  One thing to remember, however, you have to compare apples to apples.  For example, if one had an accidental cut and it wasn't sutured properly, it may not heal well -- but that may not be representative of how your body would heal under carefully controlled suturing by an expert surgeon.

In sum, you cannot predict how any one patient will heal after surgery. However, surgeons have all types of tricks and treatments to help a scar heal as well as possible.  Ultimately, you have to make a choice of whether to live with your gyne or have a scar.

Dr Jacobs

[scrabble]

Have a look at how previous scars have healed: whether there is much difference in tone colour, whether the skin is 3D so to speak. My doctors have warned me about taking my shirt off post op, in that sunlight may change the tone of scarring, so I suppose that may play a factor for any healing scar tissue.