Anyone used Mederma?

[Miranda]

Or any other scar treatments?

Last Wed. DD jumped off of a chair into a pile of pillows and bounced into the corner of her bookcase. She''s fine, in fact, I think it was harder on me than her! She just sat patiently while they were stitching her head up (with NO local - just a topical pain killer) and waited until it was shopping time. The hospital is across the street from the mall so I told her we could go shopping after we were done. Anyway, she has three stitches in her forehead that will come out on Tuesday. A steri-strip will go on after that. Since it''s on her face I thought I''d try Mederma, but, I was wondering if anyone has tried it??? Did it work??? TIA!

 

[belle]

youch! sorry to hear about that!
i haven''t personally tried it but we do recommend it to patients. of course, i don''t usually see the follow up results so i don''t know how effective it really is but it sure can''t hurt to try it.

best of luck!

 

[Love in Bloom]

Sorry, can''t help you with the Mederma question, but I''m glad your daughter is okay!

 

[Miranda]

I guess it''s worth a try. Thanks for the tip Belle. And thanks for the thought Love in Bloom.

 

[IrishAngel7982]

I'm so sorry your daughter got hurt but I'm glad she's ok! I'm not sure if mederma actually works either, but if it makes you feel any better I gashed my forehead on the corner of my dad's metal tool box when I was 4...had a few stitches while kicking and screaming...and I've never been able to find a scar. Good luck!

 

[Kaleigh]

Miranda,
We used it when Ashley had surgery on her leg. It did help. We used it for a couple of months or so. Very pleased with this product. I'm glad your daughter is ok. I think whenever this happens it's worse on us than our kids!! Ash had surgery to kill the growth plate in her leg, due to JRA. So had mulitple incisions.

 

[diamondfan]

I am glad she is fine, though I am sure you have years off your life!!!

Did you have a facial plastic surgeon stitch her?

Any of those scar solutions seem to be very beneficial, they work even on old scar tissue, so it is certainly worth trying. AND KEEP IT OUT OF THE SUN! This is really important while it heals.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 6/4/2007 11:31:21 PM
Author: diamondfan
I am glad she is fine, though I am sure you have years off your life!!!

Did you have a facial plastic surgeon stitch her?

Any of those scar solutions seem to be very beneficial, they work even on old scar tissue, so it is certainly worth trying. AND KEEP IT OUT OF THE SUN! This is really important while it heals.

Yup, keeping it out of the sun is KEY!! So glad you brought that up DF!!

 

[Miranda]

Date: 6/4/2007 10:48:07 PM
Author: IrishAngel
I''m so sorry your daughter got hurt but I''m glad she''s ok! I''m not sure if mederma actually works either, but if it makes you feel any better I gashed my forehead on the corner of my dad''s metal tool box when I was 4...had a few stitches while kicking and screaming...and I''ve never been able to find a scar. Good luck!

That does make me feel better! Ouch, a tool box!!!!

 

[Miranda]

Date: 6/4/2007 11:22:18 PM
Author: Kaleigh
Miranda,
We used it when Ashley had surgery on her leg. It did help. We used it for a couple of months or so. Very pleased with this product. I''m glad your daughter is ok. I think whenever this happens it''s worse on us than our kids!! Ash had surgery to kill the growth plate in her leg, due to JRA. So had mulitple incisions.

Kaleigh,
Thanks for the tip. I''m glad to hear it worked for your DD. Is your Ashley OK now?

 

[Miranda]

Date: 6/4/2007 11:31:21 PM
Author: diamondfan
I am glad she is fine, though I am sure you have years off your life!!!

Did you have a facial plastic surgeon stitch her?

Any of those scar solutions seem to be very beneficial, they work even on old scar tissue, so it is certainly worth trying. AND KEEP IT OUT OF THE SUN! This is really important while it heals.

Yep, I have the new grey hairs from this!

No, I didn''t have a facial plastic surgeon do the stitching. It''s a long story, but, I made the decision to have it sutured in an Urgent Care facility. The laceration is a small (1/2 inch) very straight cut. I think the ER would have freaked her out. I hope I don''t regret my decision. I did what I thought was best at the time...Now I''m second guessing it...I was thinking of having a consult with a plastic surgeon...Does that sound over the top?

Her Dr. did tell me to keep any and all sun off of it for three months. Bull-Frog everyday!

You always give the best advice! Thanks!

 

[diamondfan]

Don''t second guess it. A small straight cut can be easily done, and it is not likely to scar much if you take care of it well. Keep it covered in the sun, either with screen or even a telfa pad, and use the Curad or mederma scar stuff. A few years ago my son was at sleep away camp and they took the boys mini golfing. A kid who was not too smart decided to practice swing in an area you are not supposed to do so, just as my son was walking behind him. He sliced my son''s forehead open, right above the eyebrow, and it was gushing blood. We were 400 miles away, and they had to immediately take him to be stitched. They did not ask us what to do but did it first, and they did not use a facial plastic surgeon if I recall, but I may be fuzzy on that. I think it was a Sunday and it was an ER or urgent care facility. He had to have nine stitches, it was like a zig zag. We teased him that we knew he liked Harry Potter but did he need the lightning bolt on his forehead too? We freaked out but could not do anything since the moment had passed. The lucky thing was it missed his orbital bone and his eye, or he could have lost it. He has a scar, we did use the pad and try to cover it but he was in the middle of camp and it would sweat and he was only nine or so, so it was tough. A good friend of ours is a plastic surgeon, his step son is one of my son''s closest friends, so he told us to deal with it when he was older and the skin was done stretching, so that is what our plan is. He is a boy so it is less upsetting to us, but it is not a tiny scar by any means, and not a straight one either, it happened in the blink of an eye and we were not even there. I would not worry too much about it and just be sure to take care of it and follow the doctor''s advice. It would not hurt to call a facial plastic surgeon just to run it by them but I think you are doing all the right things.

 

[crown1]

i think the moisturizing is what does the trick. when my mother had some surgery two years ago we were advised to get mederma. when we were asking questions we were told any good moisturizing agent and massaging it in would work equally as well. her scar is looking very good and she choose another moisturizing agent.

 

[Cehrabehra]

A few years ago after my son was attacked by a dog I did some reasearch and found an article on a study done on this and other creams. Three groups: One used mederma, one a placebo lotion, and one did nothing.

There was a marginal difference between the mederma and the placebo and yet a huge difference between the placebo and doing nothing. They figured that it is the *act* of massaging the skin several times a day for several minutes that helps to break down and prevent the formation of collegen under the skin.

My son does still have scarring on his face but it is superficial in that there aren't bumps of scar tissue built up under it.

The mederma was marginally better but insignificantly so so if you can get it free/cheep then what would it hurt? Otherwise use vitamin E and just make sure you rub it like 3x a day for 2 solid minutes or whatever you can get her to sit still for. I rubbed fairly hard to break it down. "fairly hard" being relative, you don't want to hurt the child LOL

Good luck!

ETA it wasn't just having it "Moisturized" it was the act of rubbing... so find something that is good for allowing your finger to really move easily over the skin so you can push on it and break up the collagen!

 

[larussel03]

I had stiches under my chin a couple years ago and used mederma and it''s faded alot -- I started pretty soon after stiches and I think hte massaging really does help break down the scar tissue, and the mederma helps too! I used it for a couple months, then it faded pretty well-- at least well enough that I kept forgetting to do it after that, so I still have some scarring but it''s not bad at all. Prob would have been gone if I''d have kept it up : )

 

[Fancy605]

I had a stitch on my face, and once my stitches were out, my Dr. told me the things that others have mentioned. It is VERY important to protect it from the sun because the area will be very delicate. He also told me to rub the scar once the stitch came out. He said to rub it gently for a week and then press harder on it after a week had passed (just whenever I think to do it). It breaks up the scar tissue, and I have been pleased with the results so far. My scar is still a tiny bit pink, but it is not raised in the least. It''s just a small pink line in my skin.

As far as mederma goes, I have used it on a small scar on my back, and have noticed a difference. The thing is, you can''t use mederma until the scar has formed because it doesn''t need to be on the area if there is still any trace of a cut. Also, it is a little harsh on my skin.

 

[crown1]

i agree with cehra that it is the rubbing that is important. vitamin e was one of the things recommended.

 

[Miranda]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I really appreciate it! She got the stitches out yesterday so as soon as the steri strips come off we''ll get some vit E and start rubbing! It sounds like that is just as beneficial as Mederma.

 

[Mandarine]

Hi Miranda! Sorry to hear about that accident! How scary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have scars from the dog attack back in January....they''re not "clean" cuts, so I got some keloids....they just didn''t do a good job stitching me and waited way too long to do so!.

I''ve tried everything....rubbing, massaging, vitamin E, you name it!. Then I started trying these silicon strips (by Neosporin) I''m not sure they''re doing much, but they''re great to also protect the skin from the sun. I don''t wear short sleeves anymore (or tank tops) because I want to keep the scars away from the sun...even like that, you can see the ligter part of the skin that has been covered by the strips, so the sun gets through the clothing! (and the strip adds protection!).

Then about 2 weeks ago I bought Mederma...and I don''t know if it''s just my eyes, but I think it is working!. They''ve gotten lighter just with a few applications. Now I use Mederma at night and the strips during the day.

I don''t know if she can wear the strips in her forehead, but I know you can cut them to make them really thin and just cover the actual scar. Or maybe just use something like that when she''s out playing in the sun?....If that doesn''t work, then get the highest sunblock you can. I don''t even really rub the lotion, I just put a lot of it and let the skin absorb it, and re-apply as needed..

Good luck!!!!

M~