Education, not medical advice
The content on this site is general patient education. It is not a diagnosis, not a treatment recommendation, and not a substitute for a consultation with a clinician who has examined you. Whether a scar is maturing or needs treatment is a judgement made by looking at and feeling it: do not use this site to decide that your scar is ordinary, and do not use it to decide that it is not — when in doubt, make the call.
The findings that need prompt care
A scar growing beyond the edges of the original wound, redness with heat, swelling or discharge, a fever, a wound that has opened, a scar tightening across a joint or pulling on an eyelid or lip, a lump in the scar that is growing, and a scar that bleeds or ulcerates all need prompt assessment rather than a routine review. A wound that has opened or an infected scar needs care the same day.
The limits of what treatment can do
A scar is permanent. Treatment can often make a scar flatter, softer, less red and less tight, and it can release a scar that is restricting movement. It cannot remove a scar or return skin to what it was before the operation. A further operation trades one scar for another arrangement, and maturation takes twelve to eighteen months before the result of any plan can be judged.
When to seek care
Contact your treating team first for anything that is not an emergency; if the team cannot be reached, call the hospital main line. For a wound that has opened, a fever with spreading redness and discharge, or a scar that is bleeding or ulcerating, attend the nearest emergency department rather than waiting for a reply. Do not apply a preparation of your own to a scar that has opened.