If you’ve ever had or read about skin cancer, you’ve probably heard about Mohs surgery.
Mohs surgery is a type of skin cancer surgery that is considered the most effective way to remove basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). It is also used to treat some types of melanoma. In today’s blog, we’re going to take a look at Mohs surgery scar treatment, including a couple of common questions Mohs patients ask about: how long does it take Mohs scars to heal, and how long should I keep my Mohs surgery site covered.
How Will My Mohs Scar Be Closed Up?
When your procedure is complete and all of the cancerous tissue has been removed (plus a small margin of healthy tissue for good measure), your surgeon will then close up the incision area. For some patients, a large amount of skin will be removed. There are three main ways your surgical site will be left to heal, and they all take about 4-6 weeks to heal completely:
Option 1: Open, But Covered
Sometimes, your surgeon will determine that it’s best to leave the site open completely, allowing your body’s natural healing process to create a new layer of epidermis on top. If your surgeon uses this method, you’ll need to keep your surgical site covered with bandages.
Scarring: Scar tissue will form in the empty space where your cancer was removed. This option typically leaves the most scarring.
Option 2: Closed With Sutures
This method is typically chosen when there is a decent margin of tissue removed and/or the tissue reached down into the dermis. Closing up the wound completely may result in some pulling or tugging of the skin on either side of the sutures.
Scarring: With this method, there will be less scarring than with the open method, but there will still be some scarring in a line where the points of your skin were joined.
Option 3: Reconstructed With A Skin Graft Or Flap
Sometimes, the affected area is large and there would be no way to effectively close up the edges of the wound with sutures. So, your surgeon might take a skin graft from another area of the body to cover the surgical site
Scarring: With skin grafts and flaps, you’ll have scarring all the way around the graft. The graft might look slightly different than your original skin.
Related: How To Prepare For Mohs Surgery
How Long Should I Keep My Mohs Surgery Site Covered?
Healing your Mohs surgery scars starts with proper care of the wound, including keeping it covered, clean, and dry until it closes up (about 1-2 weeks). Make sure to follow all of your surgeon’s instructions very closely. This will give you the best possible post-healing outcome.
How Long Does It Take Mohs Scars To Heal?
We also highly recommend that you start using silicone scar sheets (or even better, a full Scar Heal Kit) as soon as your wound has closed up. This is general best practice for any surgical wound, and will help you have the best final result possible.
If you use a good scar heal product, you will probably see your scar fade as much as it can in six months to a year after surgery. So, if you’re looking for a scar solution to start using after your upcoming Mohs surgery, check out our Scar Heal Kits and other scar products that we offer! After all, you deserve to have the healthiest, best skin possible, regardless of what life throws at you.