Weight loss surgery can help you lose a lot of weight and get a healthier body but not without leaving some scars. Luckily, there are some ways to reduce scarring. If you are concerned about the scars left by your weight loss surgery then this article is for you to give you a full understanding on weight loss surgery scaring and on how to be minimized.

Minimize scarring after weight loss surgery

• Having scars after weight loss surgery is inevitable
• Having the surgery done by an experienced surgeon can minimize weight loss surgery scarring
• Following the recommended advice can help you reduce scarring after your bariatric surgery
• Using scar creams does not prevent scarring but helps to moisturize the wound
• Avoiding going out in the sun and putting on sunscreen is important to reduce scarring after weight loss surgery
• Scarless weight loss surgery is a novel method to lose weight with minimal scarring

Although weight loss surgeries, such as gastric sleeve surgery, gastric bypass surgery, gastric balloon surgery and others, are a great way to lose extra weight when the diet and exercise did not work, they come with a price that cannot be avoided which is scarring. Whether you choose to have laparoscopic surgery or an open surgery you are going to have some scars, but on the other hand, there are some ways to minimize the scars as much as possible.

Minimizing the scars depends on both the patient and the surgeon as each one of them has his/her role to minimize the scarring after surgery.

Minimal invasive surgery vs. open surgery in terms of scarring

You have the option to choose between open weight loss surgery and endoscopic weight loss surgery. With open surgery, the surgeon will perform bigger incisions resulting in more scarring. You can always ask your surgeon if you can go for minimally invasive surgery instead of an open one.

• Also Read: Which weight loss surgery is right for me?

Scarless weight loss surgery

Nowadays, more patients are opting for single incision laparoscopic surgery. This new approach involves operating through only one small incision instead of the traditional big one in open surgery, or the five small ones in traditional endoscopic surgery.

In this kind of surgery, the surgeon will perform completely through the belly button, therefore the surgery will leave the patient with a barely visible scar or no scar at all in some cases. To undergo this type of scarless weight loss surgery you need a quite experienced surgeon with great skills in laparoscopic surgery.

Scarless weight loss surgery (single incision laparoscopic surgery)

You may wonder and ask yourself, “why do I get incision scars after bariatric surgery or after any surgery?” You should know that scarring is a part of the way your body uses to heal itself after any damage.

The scar starts forming when the new skin cells grow and make the new tissues stronger. The wound’s shape and size play a big role in the properties of the scar, meaning that the scar can be flat or raised, red or white depending on the way the surgery has been done. On top of that, the scar fades over time. Scars may keep on fading for about 2 years in some cases.

How to minimize scarring after bariatric surgery?

Since scars are caused by the healing process of the body, you can minimize them significantly by understanding the process and avoid the things that promote scarring. So, to minimize scars after weight loss surgery you need to:

• Avoid picking at the incisions, as picking will force the body to re-heal them more causing more scarring.
• Quit smoking before and after the surgery, as smoking causes your blood vessels to constrict delivering fewer nutrients to the cells and prolonging the healing process.
• Avoid walking under the sun: you cannot avoid walking in the sun permanently but try to avoid it as much as possible and put on a hat and sun protection when you have to go out.

On the other hand, there are some things that can help reduce scarring like:

• Massaging the wound gently: This can help reduce scarring as it can break up the scar tissues under your skin.
• Using scar creams: They are not magical creams that vanish the scar but they can keep the tissues moist.
• Keeping an eye on the wound: You should be monitoring the wound to see if there is an infection.

Massaging the wound gently and using scar creams in order to reduce weight loss scarring

First of all, you should choose an experienced and skillful surgeon to perform the surgery. An experienced surgeon will be more able to reduce scarring post bariatric surgery. But anyway, make sure to ask your surgeon to close out the incisions that are made with stitches as this will prevent extra collagen from entering the wound.