When Would Be A Good Time To Revise A Scar From A Scalp Injury?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Hello, I previously had an occipital knob surgery with you and I was very pleased with the surgery, so I wanted to reach out about a potential other surgery; this one is likely much more minor though. Without going into a lot of detail for now, I wanted to see if you are able to fully remove this football shaped injury from my head and make it a single linear scar, or other clean scar (T-shape, etc.)? My skin below the wound is fairly lax, so it may be able to stretch further up. Thank you.

A:In regards to your current scalp injury I would be very cautious about considering any type of scalp excision based on the pattern drawn in the pictures. The scalp may seem lax but such excisions will result in a considerable  scar widening…which may be worse than the original problem. The question is not whether it can be cut out and closed but how does the scar look later. Given that this looks like a fresh injury I would let this heal for at least 3 months and then let’s see what it looks like. But based on what I see now such an excision would not be recommended.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon