how long does strip scar have risk of stretching?

[CCS]

I told Jayman 6 months, since that is what my Doctor told me. But I'm curious what you guys have experienced or heard.

 

[s.a.f]

About that, but obviously the longer it goes without stretching the better the chances the chances it wont happen.

 

[Lucky_UK]

i'm well over 13 months and I dont think my scar has stretched, I probably wouldnt know unless I buzz my hair but right now its quite long

 

[Guest]

6 months is about right I would say---- It would be pretty hard to stretch after that--- not saying it couldn't happen--I have just never heard anyone say "My scar was fine for 5-6 months then it stretched after that."

BTW-- I think Lucky UK's avatar is chicken soup for our hair!!!! :agree:

Puts a smile on my face every time!!!! :bravo:

Jason

 

[WebBubba]

Is it obvious if you've stretched the scar, or is it something you would have to see visually and compare to how the scar was before? After 12 weeks, I feel some tightness on my head but I never let it pull too much. Would I be able to feel if somehow there were enough tension or pull to stretch it?

 

[dd11856]

And, how would we prevent this? I can understand immediately post-op (like me currently), but months later we should still worry about this?

 

[s.a.f]

It can happen even up to a year later, it all depends on the natural laxity of your scalp, and obviously the bigger the strip and the number of times you have work done the more likely it is.

 

[Dr. Feller]

Scar stretch is determined by two major variables:
1. The amount of collagen in the skin. Collagen is to skin what re-bar is to cement. It's what gives it it's strength. If you have naturally low collagen, then your scar is prone to stretching. Just how much depends on the second major variable...
2. The width of the donor strip that was removed. The wider the strip, the greater the chance of stretch.

But there is definietly hope for the collagen deficient.

About a year ago a patient from the UK came to us for a repair of his transplant and some major strip scarring he had. He had low collagen content and wide strips taken. What we did was to remove one of the old scars and staple the skin together. We then removed every other staple and replaced it every month for a period of over 6 months. The results were just what we expected. The scar stretched only as wide as the staples which was HALF the width of original scars. Has we used thinner staples, his scar would have been even smaller. So far, after 5 months of the staples being out for good the scar has NOT stretched.

 

[WebBubba]

Thanks for the information. That's very interesting. I'm 12 weeks post-op, and of course don't want to stretch my scar, so avoid any movement where I feel tension pulling on the tightness of my head. But I suppose I'm wondering if I would know if any movement was too severe or some type of incident were to occur that would stretch the scar. I mean, would it be painful or is it something that just happens based on the factors you mentioned above?