Surgery scars and sunshine!

[Rothera]

So, England is having a heat wave at last! I'm 10 weeks post op with some quite large scars down the front of my knee. I'm sitting in the sun....should I protect the scars any more/differently than the rest of my skin?

[smileyshaz]

Hi there, I would use a higher factor suncream, or a sunblock, on your scars, or just make sure you keep them covered, at least for this year till they've had a chance to heal properly.

From reading around online it seems that scars are much more sensitive to sunlight than normal skin and at greater risk of burning - and once they are sunburnt they may remain dark, rather than fading, and will not return to the same colour as your healthy skin.

Hope that helps, enjoy our heatwave while it lasts!
Sharon x

[joval]

Hello Rothera,
I'm in Florida, the Sunshine State!  A couple of years ago I had surgery on both feet.  After, I made sure my feet were covered when I was out in the sun for any prolonged time.  You would need to get pretty close to see the scars on my feet.  I'm doing the same with my knee.  I don't trust putting sun block alone.  I cover the scars completely. 
Good healing!
Jo

[Snowy]

Yes, you need to be very careful to protect the scars from the sun. I was warned by both my surgeon and PT about this after surgery, since I also had mine in the middle of a heatwave at the start of summer. Either keep them completely covered (I tried to do this whenever possible) or use a very high factor sunblock to make sure they don't get sun damaged while they're healing.