When that suspicious looking mole on your skin turns out to not be a mole at all, you’ll likely find your doctor recommending you go through MOHS surgery. This common procedure is used to treat the most serious kind of skin cancer: melanoma. MOHS surgery allows your surgeon to slowly remove the tumor, layer by layer, keeping as much of the healthy skin as possible. One of the concerns patients most often have with this surgery is scarring— how noticeable is it going to be, and what can I do to heal it well? That’s where picking the right scarring products comes in.
What Happens During MOHS Surgery?
This procedure is commonly booked for an entire day, but it usually won’t actually run that long. This extensive time period is reserved so that your surgeon will have plenty of time to remove every last skin cancer cell.
The procedure itself is fairly straightforward; the local area will be numbed and your surgeon will remove as much of the visible skin cancer as possible without damaging the healthy skin. Another thin layer of skin will be excised and examined in the laboratory. If any cancerous cells are found in this layer of skin, your surgeon will continue the procedure and remove more tissue. The procedure will continue until there are no cancerous cells left in the area.
Does MOHS Surgery Cause Scarring?
Most surgical procedures will leave some amount of scarring— that’s just the nature of the cutting and healing process. Unfortunately, MOHS surgery has the potential to scar much more than a simple scalpel incision. Depending on the size, shape, and extent of your melanoma, your surgeon might end up removing a lot of skin tissue. The more skin they remove, the more extensive your scarring will be.
Your scarring will also depend upon the way in which your surgical site is closed up. Some top-layer melanomas simply need to be dressed with a bandage and left to heal like a bad burn. Other MOHS patients will need a skin graft or might have the surrounding skin stretched to cover the surgical site. If you are concerned about the appearance of your incision, you may wish to request that a plastic surgeon be present for your procedure.
MOHS Scar Treatment
Keloid scarring isn’t uncommon for patients who get this surgery. MOHS surgery can range from minimally invasive to extremely damaging to the skin’s natural smoothness. If you want to minimize scarring from this procedure, your regimen should begin prior to your surgery. Moisturize your skin prior to the procedure, and start using a scar reduction product as soon as your surgeon gives you the okay— generally one week after surgery.
Scar Products That Make A Difference
Here at Rejuvaskin, we’ve developed products for even the most stubborn scarring. Our silicone Scar FX Sheeting is designed to keep your wounds in place, ensuring proper healing! For facial scars, it’s important to resist the itch-temptation and to keep the area hydrated so that you can avoid raised, rough scars. Our Rejuvasil scar gel does all this and more!