Conference moira::parenting

    When I was that age I fell and hit my upper lip against a foot stool
    and had to have a number of stitches. (It's actually that area above
    your lip and below your nose -- there ought to be a name for that...)
    Anyway, the scar is hardly visible and people rarely notice it. It's
    about three-quarters of an inch long. Actually, I've always liked my
    scar! So maybe Samantha's will also just be a tiny hairline like
    mine, and become one of her badges of honor. 
    
    The vitamin E treatment certainly sounds worth a try. I know it 
    helps with burns. 
    
    Lucy

Andrea,

When Kevin, my 5 year old was about 1 years old he did the exact same thing.
Seven stitches on the upper half of his forehead. What a scare! He was really
bleeding which the doctor at the emergency unit later explained that you bleed
more from cuts on the head than other parts of the body. It took a awhile to heal
but unless the scar is pointed out you would not even see it.  

I never used anything on it.  Just let nature take its course.  

You will probably want to ask the plastic surgeon about this anyway.  I know
with my other son Michael we just used wet/dry sterile bandages intially on his
wound.  He had an IV inflitrate a vein on the top of his left hand when he was
in Boston Children's NICU.  The plastic surgeon removed the vein and left the 
wound open, about the size of a quarter. We were instructed not to let it scab 
over but let the skin grow in around it.  So depending on the cut or wound
the doctor may not want you to use something on it.

Best of Luck,

Pat K.

    
    I have used Vitamin E on cerveal scars (some as long as 18 inches) with
    great success. It could be that my skin type would have healed this way
    regardless of what I put on it, but I would tend to use it both for
    myself and for my family if such a situation arose.
    
    Also, as a previous noter mentioned, cuts and scars at that early an
    age usually heal quite well with little to no visible scarring in the
    future.
    
    				Wendy

    Andrea,
    
    It may be obvious for most of the people,(it was not for me though at
    the time .... I was so scared) but when my step son had to
    have 4 stitches on his forehead, the doctor stressed more than once
    that he could not be exposed to the sun for several months because if
    he did there would be a visible scar for sure... I live in Rio and this
    was during summer time. 
    
    Just a tropical hint...
    
    L�cia
    
    

    
    Back in my former life as a nurse I also worked on the orthopedic unit
    (before L&D) and we used to get all the trauma cases.  Motocycle, car
    accidents, etc.  The plastic surgeon who usually saw these patients was
    a miracle worker.  He had tremendous success with producing minimal
    scaring.  There were three things that he did; he never bandaged
    anything, always kept the site completely free of the slightest ooze of 
    blood (if it did ooze, we had to clean it regularly) and he instructed
    us to apply neosporin ointment to the site regularly (this kept the
    site moist and provided a preventitive topical antibiotic).
    
    Good Luck

After I had 38 staples removed on my stomach after abdominal surgery 2 years
ago my surgeon told me to rub neosporin on the scar faithfully twice daily.
Seemed to work great...also promoted good healing, and didn't itch at all.
Of course in my case the only one who gets to see mine is my husband and my
doctor.....

Also it is a good idea no matter what time of the year after the actual wound 
heals to make sure you use a sunscreen (over #15) on her forehead EVERYDAY!
for at least 3-6 months.  This will prevent the sun from causing the scar
tissue to turn red and therefore it will not blend in to her normal skin
tone (if the scar remains light colored she has a better chance of it
"disappearing"  also her age has a lot to do with the healing process - the
younger the skin the better the chance it will blend in better - don't we
all wish it stayed that way!!!



Donna

    
    
    I've been told that Vitamin E is only good if taken internally (pill)
    to help skin heal better, minimal scarring.  It is good topically
    to lubricate the skin (dry skin) because it's very heavy.
    
    I use Aloe Vera (from my plants) on my kids cuts, and my sunburn.  It
    prevents me from blistering and pealing (on the rare occasions I let 
    myself stay out in the sun too long) and the kids seem to heal up
    VERY well when I use the aloe (just break the shoot and apply directly
    to area, but if there's an infection, that's a different story).  
    It seems to help minimize any scarring on us.  
    
    NF
    
    

    As an aside regarding Aloe gel, a few months back I badly burned my
    hand on a pan that had inadvertently been left to rest on a burner that
    was being used. The pain was so intense that I could not bend or use my
    hand (Marc had to finish making the dinner), the wound started to
    immediately blister. I even considered going to Urgent care to have it
    looked at.

    As luck would have it, I happened to have some Aloe gel in the fridge
    and I applies it to the burn. It took awhile but within 45 minutes, I
    no longer had *any* pain (although the area was stiff) and the
    blistering was kept to a minimum.

    Definitely something that will always be in our house.

    				Wendy

    When Nick (age 3) took 4 or 5 stitches to his chin a number of months
    ago, we were also advised by the nurse and a couple of other parents to
    rub vitamin E oil on the wound after it had healed in order to minimize 
    scarring. I bought some small vitamin E gel-caps at CVS, and would
    simply puncture one as needed and rub the contents on his chin. We kept
    this up not-quite-daily for a period of 2 months or so, 
    
    Now, I don't know whether to attribute it to the oil or simply to a
    toddler's natural ability to heal quickly, but there is hardly any scar
    noticable, and what little scarring is left is only visible if you know
    exactly what to look for.
    
    My $.02, FWIW
    
    Freddie

    I burned my knuckle one time getting something out of the toaster oven,
    and it bothered me when it was healing.  My mother told me to put
    vitamin E on it - so I bought some and rubbed it on a couple of times a
    day. It made the wound feel better because before it kept cracking
    open, and now I hardly have a scar - and that wound was pretty deep (as
    deep as it can get on a knuckle!)
    
    So, now I keep a bottle of vitamin E gel-caps on hand!

We can buy a cream here which is vitamin E plus merfin (a disinfectant).  I
have used this on the kids since they were babies and myself.  It penetrates
so is appropriate for wounds which have scabbed over, the merfin keeps 
infection down, and the vitamin E helps with healing.  I always take several
tubes to the US when I go.  My family can't get enough of it :-)

ccb

    Thank you all so much - I am going to go ahead and use the Vitamin
    E oil on her after she gets her stitches out...
    
    Which brings me to my last question.......She had her stitches
    in Monday around 6:00 pm...She's having them removed tomorrow
    at 1:00 --- Doesn't seem long enough to me????
    
    Thanks again for all your replies...it makes me feel better to know
    that the scar will fade.......She's been a trooper all week...
    It doesn't even seem to hurt her at all.........
    
    Andrea

Markus got a deep cut on his knee where he needed some stiches.  I also
thought they took them out too early (after about a week) for an active boy and
naturally the cut opened and he has a very wide scar.  Of course in his opinion
the scar is a badge of courage and he likes it BETTER that way.   -boys!!

I think the reason that they like to take the stiches out as soon as possible
is that the threads provide channels for infection to enter.  Probably, if, as
you say it is on an area which doesn't get much "stress" (like an 11 year old
knee), then it's ok.  Of course this is JMHO.  I am not a doctor!

ccb

    My son had 11 stiches on his eyelid - he was operated at the Eye and
    Ear Infirmary in Boston on a Monday morning and had the stiches taken
    out on Friday (same week!). 
    
    The stiched came out so easily - they were very dry.
    
    L�cia                                    

     When our daughter had surgery, the doctor told us that the degree to
which a scar will be prominent is dependent on a number of factors, including
how much the scar is flexed and where it was located relative to the
underlying bone structure.  In Lara's case, he said that since the incision
(a pretty long one, probably 9 inches, and obviously deep, since it was for
open heart surgery) was directly over the breastbone, it would probably never
go away completely.  It's gotten less prominent over the years, and
proportionately smaller, since she has grown an awful lot, but it's still
quite visible, and my guess is that it will always be there.  It has not been
a problem yet, but it suspect it will be in a few years; she's twelve now,
and still prefers T-shirts, sweatshirts and the like, but if and when she
wants to wear a plunging neckline or a two piece bathing suit, it will
probably be quite visible.
     I've seen a lot of knees that have been operated on, and I've never seen
one in which the scar was not quite visible.  I agree with Cheryl, for boys,
and even for some female athletes, a scar is a sort of badge of courage.  I
guess what I'm saying is that I suspect that the reason that the scar is
still visible in .13 is more due to the location of the incision than it is
due to how long the stitches were in place.

Clay

    Doesn't the depth of the incision also have something to do with
    it?  Plus the overall amount of body fat, etc. -- one of my sisters
    had her gallbladder out (back in the days when they cut you from
    stem to stern), and she's terribly thin and thinks that's why her
    scar is so prominent.  Obviously, it's in a place where you are
    usually covered anyway, but jeez!
    
    Reminder to all who are using Vitamin E/aloe/etc. for burns:
    RUN THE BURNED AREA UNDER COOL WATER FIRST.  Don't apply the minute
    you get burned, as the oil could seal in the heat and actually cause
    further damage.  My $.02.

    Oh I can tell you about  scars! I was hit by a car when i was 18 
    and as a result have a scar on my leg that probably measures about 5".
    Of course at first when they took the stitches out (staple
    gun....youch!!!!) the scar was red but over the years what happens is
    that the scar eventually fades. Although it doesn't completly go away, 
    it is a dramatic improvment from way back when! 
    
    2 options I can think of...medical science has indeed come a long way.
    Plastic surgeons now have a procedure (don't know the exact name)
    that can "take away" a scar.  Probably pretty $expensive$. A cheaper 
    option would be to buy a cosmetic cover up..called CoverMark, I think
    theres another one called DermaBlend or something like that. It sells
    at the cosmetic counters at stores like Filenes or Jordan Marsh. It's
    specifically for concealing scars. 
    
    But remember, it will fade over the years and I bet no one will notice
    unless they get really up close!   
    
    
                                

    Well, Samantha had her stitches out on friday afternoon....and the
    Plastic Surgeon said it had heeled beautifully.......To tell ya the
    truth it really doesn't even look like she had stitches anymore -
    Just looks like a cut...
    
    He also said that Aloe and Vitamin E..."won't hurt...might help"
    
    He said that she probably will only have a visible scar to me
    as the years go on because I was so worried about it and will always
    be looking for it...
    
    Thank you all for your comments and help.......
    
    Andrea
    
    
    
    
     

    My son had 5 stitches in his forehead last fall.  He is fine now and
    the scar is barely visible.  I just wanted to mention also what our
    family physician said when he took out the stitches.  He told me that
    it was possible that some thread would come out later in the week from
    under his skin, although none was visible after he removed the
    stitches.
    
    Sure enough, about two days later when I was giving Alex a bath there
    was another piece of small black suture thread on his forehead.  I
    didn't say anything to Alex, I just washed it off with the washcloth. 
    He was still a little timid about the wound site.
    
    So... don't be surprised if you see some black thread "after" the
    stitches have been removed.  It is just working itself out of the
    system.  No pain involved.
    
    Kathy

FYI, I had 40 stitches in exactly the place the basenoter described when I was 
4 years old (almost lost my right eye - I face-planted on the corner of a 
coffee table at full speed).

By the time I was a teenager, no one could tell.  One thing that "helped" a lot
is that I got the chicken pox shortly after, and so I have a lot of pox scars
surrounding the injury scar.  Hard to tell where the pox ends and the scar
starts.  If you know what you're looking for, my scar is obvious, but my husband
didn't notice for years that it was there.

Just to let you know these things can fade to the point of invisibility....


Pat