Initial scar redness and permanent scarring

[Mac1]

It appears that the redness around the strip scar post-op is greater than the scar eventually appears. Is this true in most cases.

 

In other words, the scar looks thicker in many pictures when it is red, almost 1/2 centimeter thick, then several months later it doesn't look quite as bad.

 

Is the skin just red around the actual incision because it is irritated? Or does the redness that lingers about one month post-op actually tell you exactly how big your scar is going to be?

 

How can you decipher between what is a result of shedding post-op around the scar, versus the actual width of the scar itself.

[Jotronic]

It appears that the redness around the strip scar post-op is greater than the scar eventually appears. Is this true in most cases.

 

Yes.

 

Is the skin just red around the actual incision because it is irritated? Or does the redness that lingers about one month post-op actually tell you exactly how big your scar is going to be?

 

Look at any other part of your body. When you have a cut that is healing the areas immediately surrounding the healing wound will be red. Same thing here. The total area of redness that is experienced above and below the scar does not determine the size of the final donor scar.

 

How can you decipher between what is a result of shedding post-op around the scar, versus the actual width of the scar itself.

 

You can usually see intermittent hairs in the area where the hair shed or at the very least you should see some stubble. It can be difficult to determine based on what time frame your are post-op but I think if you look closely you'll be able to determine what is what.

[Blake Bloxham]

Mac,

 

Like Jo said, the redness and inflammation surrounding any sort of incision, cut, fall, punch, etc, is part of the body's natural immune response to injury and allows the healing process to take place. It definitely makes injury look more significant when it first occurs, but, like Jo said, it doesn't necessarily equate to what the wound will look like when it's fully healed (with or without a scar).