Scar tissue after surgery and my progress

[teodeles]

Hello people
 I had gynecomastia surgery 10,5 months ago.
My gynecomastia was not very big and I am also a fit person so my chest muscles and my low fat were hiding a lot of it but still it was annoying.
 The doctor that operated me was a specialist in this kind of operation.
After the surgery and for the next 1 month my chest was super flat and very muscular.
But after the 1st month scar tissue started building in the areola area very rapidly!
At that time I didn t even know what scar tissue means and I didn t know what was happening.
Month after month the scar tissue were building up and I ended up to have a worst looking chest than prior surgery.
  I was frustrated and went to the doctor and told me that it was scar tissue but he never told me about kenalog injections… his only proposal was that if I wanted to do a revision surgery. (I also did a Breast ultrasound test and it showed that it was indeed scar tissue and not left over glad… I don t know what is the English name of this test)
When I asked him if after revision , the same thing could happen he told me yes, so I was sad.
  Thank God I searched a lot in the net and found this thread in your wonderful site.  https://www.gynecomastia.org/smf/3/scar-tissue-build-up-after-10-weeks-of-amazing-results/

I really owe a huge thanks to this guy because I read his story and gave me hope that the kenalog injections could solve my problem.
I also like to thank Dr Elliot Jacobs for the posts that he makes in this forum.

So after reading this story I spoke with my doctor and told me that he knew about this injectons! Unfortunatelly he didn t mention it by his own but I care about the result.
  So 15 days ago I went to his office and he did 1,2 kenalog on my left areola and 0,8 on my right.(2 kenalogs in total but I had bigger s.tissue on my left areola.
The scar tissue was so hard that he had a huge trubble inserting the niddle in and to push the stuff in it but finally after huge effort he managed to do it.
He said he had never seen a so hard tussue before.(it really was like a rock)

  I can say that after 15  days the scar tissue on my left areola( I had huge s. tissue there) has reduced by 50% and on mt right 30%(I had less scar tissue there) and as far as I know for 40 days the kenalog works so I expect more reduction.
  I will wait for 30-40 days after injection to see results and if there is any left that bothers me I will go for 1 more visit for more injection.
He injected more stuff in the left areola because of the bigger S. Tissue and less in the right one cause of the less S.tissue .
My chest is starting looking less pointy and the scar tissue is a lot softer.
The skin in the areola area is loose...will this be ok after months?
Will this soft tissue that I feel inside be abserved by my body?

Thanks for any comment

I made this post in order to tell my story to ppl that also had this surgery and to give hope to the ppl that have scar tissue ...like the guy in the thread I read.

I will be informing you for my results.
Sorry for my English.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Thanks for your post.  I hope that it will help many others.

When a patient has gyne surgery, there are three involved parties:  the surgeon, the patient and Mother Nature.  Given a good operation by the surgeon and complete cooperation (re post-op care and instructions) by the patient, there is still Mother Nature, who can be very difficult. The production of excess scar tissue is unpredictable -- some patients develop it and some not at all. There is no way to predict it or prevent it -- but there is treatment for it should it occur.  The production of scar tissue is usually between 4-12 weeks after surgery.  It is amenable to treatment with cortisone medication (kenalog is my favorite) at any time, but best (IMHO) after 3 months or more.  But treatment with kenalog can be done at any time, including months or even years after surgery.

The treatment can be difficult (as your surgeon described) but the results are impressive.  The results are dependent upon the skills of the surgeon/injector, the dose that is chosen, the concentration of the medication, etc.

I have had great success in dealing with post op scar tissue.  I do have a few "tricks" is doing the injections and would be pleased to share them with any physician who contacts me.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your treatment -- I hope you continue to do well.

Dr Jacobs

[teodeles]

Thanks for the reply Dr. Jacobs its been an honor.
In my previous post I did a mistake...it was day 13 after the injections and not 15.
 
Now its 19 days after injections and I have additional improvement.
In the left areola the s.tissue has reduced by 75% in total !
My right areola 3 days ago became really soft like almost fluid and it has reduced my 60 % in total!
Mt nipples aren t popping out from t shirts any more.
I have loosen skin in my areolas by I believe with time and weight training that my pecs muscles will be big again this will be resolved.
 
I guess I will not need any more injections and that s good cause cortisone it s not the best thing to have in the system...
 
The perfect success will be the scar tissues to be more reduced and hopefully not create a crater in the end of the injections effect.

Any comment will be apreciated.
Thanks

[teodeles]

I am in the day 21 from the injections.
Unfortunately in my left chest a little crater is being made in the area that doctors cut the skin to make the surgery... i had little scar tissue there and I guess that my doc put more kenalog that it should.
But from what i see , the crater is at least 2 cm far away from the point that the injection was made...Is there a chance that the substance got there?2 cm far ?
I never recall having this crater there... I started having it at day 20 after kenalog.
The crater is visible only when I flex my pecs and when I raise the hands and when I touch it.

i am scared because its only day 21 and as far as I know for 40 days at least kenalog is eating the scar tissue or healthy tissue in my case.

I also have one question.
My doc said that I have to avoid the sun and solarium for 8 weeks after kenalog... is that a fact?

Also do you think that working out the chest with weights affects the power of kenalog cause we send huge amounts ob blood in the area?
If so I have to stop until at for at least 6 weeks after the injections.

Please someone answer cause I am starting to worry
Thanks

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

If Kenalog is injected too much or with a very high dose, it may cause atrophy of tissues (fat, muscle, etc) which could possibly cause a crater.

If caught early, sometimes an injection of saline (salt Water) can dilute whatever remaining kenalog is there.  It may or may not totally help -- but you should consult with your surgeon.

Sorry to hear about this.

Dr Jacobs

[teodeles]

Thank you for the reply Dr. but is it possible to make the injection in one place and the crater to happen 2-3 cm far from the injected place?

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Yes, it is possible if the injection fluid moved around under the skin and pooled in a different area.  But I am just guessing -- I wasn't there to observe and I certainly didn't do the injection.

Dr Jacobs

[teodeles]

Thank yoy for your post Dr.
I have spoken with my Dr and tomorrow I ll go for the saline injection... I hope it will reduce the power of kenalog.

[teodeles]

Ok unfortunately the crater became amost 2 times worst than yesterday an I am so sad...
Tomorrow I have appointment with Dr to put saline but when I saw today after work that it became so worst I bought a saline and I told my mother that is a nurse to inject me some in 4 places on the crater...I thought that I had to do it the faster I could.

I am deppreed and in a very bad mood...

Dr Jacobs as I see in the end I will be forced to ask the Dr to put me some fat to fix the crater ...

Please can you tell me if this fat thing have any success? Will it appear natural? Does it lasts or I will have to go every once in a while to fill in?

Please members of the forum with same experience help me out ... I need to hear some opinions.
Thanks  

[teodeles]

Today the crater is even worst!
Everyday kenalog is ruining my chest with so much speed.
I can t know how worst it will be in the end...but even now is bad.

As things shows I will have to do a revision surgery sometime...to see if it can be fixed.

Today is the appointment with the Dr... I ll post news.
I am trying to keep my self calm but it s almost impossible...

Please anyone? comment?  

[teodeles]

I m back from the Dr. and he inject all the area with seline.
He told me that kenalog can NOT eat the muscle and that it can eat only fat and tissue.
He also told me that after kenalog in some months the body remake new fat and tissue and it fills the gap...
My crater now is not so big and I hope this injections that I did today to stop the power of the kenalog...

Today it s been 3 weeks and 3 days after the kenalog...

He also told me that if in the end the crater bothers me , he can put a little fat there to seal it.
But he wants to wait at least 6 months for the new fat and tissue to fill some of the gap 

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

The doctor's reply is very realistic.  Recommend you follow his advice.

Dr Jacobs

[teodeles]

Its 5 days after the seline.
The crater has stop growing and the area there that was very thin and soft has become thick and hard again!
The crater already filled by 30% and I am very happy!
I think your teknique worked Dr Jacobs!
Should I repeat this seline injections ?
Its been 30 days from the kenalog injection.

If it will continue like this ... it seems that in 1 month the crater will be gone.

Thank you so much Dr Jacobs.

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

There is really no need to repeat the saline -- it is only a one time effort to try to minimize the dosage of kenalog via dilution.
Dr Jacobs

[terre]

Hi teodeles, how are you doing? I hope you're still getting improvements! Best wishes