Help! Scar on my LO's face

[Sweetmommy]

Hi there!

My sweet little 4 years old boy felt on the edge of a cupboard at daycare 3 weeks ago... It was bleeding like crazy so we took him to the ER. They glued it and applied steritstrips. Took them off 5 days after, as instructed. I don't know if it should have been stitches, because now it is wide and open. The wound is healed but the edges of the wound doesn't touch, there is a good 2mm space between them. I think they call it a depressed scar?

It is my first time dealing with a deep cut, so I don't know if it's normal... It is right between his eyes, 1cm long (thanks god its small). But it is so wide, it really worries me. I am so devastated that my LO has now a big red depressed mark in the middle of his perfect little face. It gives me anxiety and I am beating myself up that he didn't had stitches... Should have gone to a plastic surgeon or something...But I didn't know! It breaks my heart looking at him. All I can see is this mark between his eyes.

I am applying a silicone base gel twice a day + sunscreen. I don't know if silicone gel sheets would be better? The instructions says it is for raised scars but he has indented scar.

As this has ever happened to you or your LO? Any positive outcomes? I keep reading it will get better, but it takes around 6 months before seeing improvement... That's a long time... Meanwhile, hopefully I will feel better about it cause I don't want to get depressed... And I don't want my son to be conscious about it.

A mommy looking for reassurance.

Reading with interest as my dd still has a red scar on her face from a cat scratch about 5 months ago.

Have been using silicone gel on it religiously from when it was healed but despite everything I have read about silicone being the gold standard for scars, it hasn’t seemed to help with the redness. I can’t believe after 5 months the redness hasn’t reduced. I’ve read it can take at least 7 months for a scar to fade. Why does it take so long??

I feel for everyone going through similar. Life is hard enough without worrying about your kids faces. My DD still has people commenting on her scar. Yesterday she came home and said her teacher asked her in front of the whole class what happened to her face! I just want the redness to fade so it’s not as obvious.

@Littlemsworrier I totally feel for you. Why on earth people comment on these things? People have commented on my daughter’s scar. And not just ‘ah you have a scar’ the ‘poor you, it’s on your face scar’ type comment 🙄 I mean seriously people have lost manners and common sense.

in our case it took at least 7 months to become a bit less red and another 2 months to be to the stage it is now.

Yes the teacher commenting on it really upset DD. This is in secondary school too where there is already a lot of pressure on how girls look. Apparently the teacher didn’t shut up even after DD answered, she then wanted more details while 29 other kids sat in silence listening!

Thanks for the reassurance about how long it takes to fade. It’s so odd as a friend had to have stitches on her forehead after a bad fall, in fact the stitches were redone twice and after a few weeks her scar was completely white. I guess people heal differently.

@MrsMargot No I haven’t asked a dermatologist about it yet. I have only home to her Kaiser dermatologist and they don’t want to do anything for it. Said until she gets older. And that she’ll be fine and I should stop worrying about it. But no one really understands how us moms worry until it happens to their kids. I’m thinking about going to a private dermatologist to see what they tell me.
but my daughter is 6 so I might have to wait until she gets older if she wants to.

wow we have a very similar daily routine. Except I just use the silicone sheets during the day time so I don’t have to keep reapplying the gel all day and sunscreen. As the sheets do a good job in protecting it from the sun.

like you said thought I’m only worried about the texture as well. that’s the only thing that bugs me.
I saw a good result in a scar with the tca peel. If I can find it again I’ll share it with you.
it’s much cheaper and I think it hurts less than laser.

@Karenandrade52 yes please! If you find it I would appreciate it! I am sure she won’t be able to do it now but I would like to have the options laid out for the future.

I have taken her to a private paediatric plastic surgeon when the scar it was 3 months old (so super red ) and I am not sure it was worth the consultation. He reviewed the routine I was following and he said that he would not change anything and that the only thing we could do is when she is 4 she could do a lazer to blur the white line with the rest of the skin. He also said that the scar settles at around 18 months for small kids. He would not do anything until the scar was 1,5 years old so we could see what we are working with. He also said that by then the redness may be almost invisible. Personally, I was not too worried about the redness. I know this will go at some point.

Recently, we went to a private dermatologist for a different issue and I asked her about the scar too. She pretty much said the same things. She also mentioned that her daughter who is around 7 has a big scratch on her face for over a year and she is not worried because the skin will stretch and the texture will change. She said there are options once they are teenagers. I am wondering whether she meant the peel you mentioned. I do hope the texture will get better but but for my peace of mind I want to know what options I have in the future.

i was told about a different dermatologist from a friend who is a specialist on Leizer for kids scars. He is in a different European city but we happen to have booked some holidays there soon and I am thinking of paying him a visit. I shall report back what he says if you are interested. And obviously, if you are in London I am happy to share the private doctors we have visited in a private message. However, I am not sure whether it is worth the expense if they tell you exactly what I was told.

For the silicone gel I did use it but I don’t think this is advisable on the forehead, because the silicon is to prevent that the scar goes too much up which is not what happens on the forehead. The silicone gel is useful for scars in other areas.

Thanks for all for sharing the pictures

I live in Germany. Indeed the issue of the scar of my daughter is that it’s not on the same level as the skin (it’s lower) and with a different texture. Of course it’s lighter colour now in summer but this is not problematic, because I think with time it might be less noticeable.

please let’s remember to update this threat in few years, if any of us decides to try on treatments (scar revision, laser, peel, other…). I think that will be very useful for all of us.

Can you provide an update as to how your don hesled 4 years later?

Nice the indentation went away. Still see that at the 1 year mark on those pics.

Looking for some reassurance. My son (2.5 years) fell over at daycare 4 months ago. It is literally right between his eyes, about 1cm.

We had stitches put in, mainly due to the location.

It seemed to be healing, but over the last few weeks it is getting worse. It is redder, wider and seems deeper too. The area around the cut is also staying really red.

We have been using Mederma, silicone cream and sunscreen, as well as massaging (as much as he will let me) but nothing seems to be helping. I am so worried about it. It’s all I see when I look at him. I can’t even bear to look at old photos “pre” the injury.

Any suggestions? Or am I just stressing unnecessarily? Picture doesn’t do it justice…looks much worse in real life.

I have the same with my daughter, it‘s now 2,5 years from the accident. It‘s unavoidable not to see it when I look at her and when I look at pictures pre is so painful for me. Her scar didn‘t get better. Depends on the light and hydratation it looks deeper or less. It‘s now white and not red anymore but it stays scar tissue. I would like to try laser in some years. Now she is almost 5, she had the fall when she was 2

Just curious did you use a plastic surgeon. Stiches or glue?

Yes, we had a plastic surgeon stitch it.

So sorry to hear this! When are you thinking of doing laser? I know most places won’t consider it until at least 18 months after the injury, but what age does the child need to be?

@ang2023 could you share a picture of the scar? I am curious of the result when stitched. Here is the scar of my daughter, 2.5 years after the fall, it was glued at emergency and as you can see it is indented. I wonder whether stitches would have been better because clearly with th glue the two sides of the skin didn’t stay together, and that’s why it’s indented.

@Cristina2021 There was a picture in my original post, not sure if you can see it?

It still has an indent and also isn’t perfectly straight so I’m not sure the stitches made a heap of difference. But only time will tell!

@ang2023 I see now indeed. Keep us posted when the red colour has fainted, it will at some point (after a year)

@Cristina2021 Will do! Crazy that it takes so long for the redness to fade. Will be a third of his little life 😭

Keep me posted if you do end up going down the path of laser. Keen to see how much difference it can make.

Hello everyone, was wondering if someone was in the same boat as me…this is my daughter’s cut 14 days after the steri strip and glue. See attached photo. Do you think it will be fine? Has anyone had a similar wound? What did it look like after it healed? We are putting vitamin e oil, mederma and covering it when she is outdoors…thank you so much.

can you please give an update:(????

@Cristina2021 Hi. What did your daughter’s scar look like to begin with? Was it wide at first and became narrower? I’m experiencing it with my daughter right now. I feel really bad. Her scar has a gap too as it has been glued at the hospital.

Hi @MrsMargot. I know it’s been years but I’m in the same position with my daughter right now. Was your DD’s scar wide at first? Has it been glued? How is the scar looking now? How long did it take for the redness to fade? Sorry for asking lots of questions.

@Marianvday first of all let me say I feel you. Secondly, it’s been almost 3 years to the day she fell and I can honestly say that it does look better. Not gone, but much better. I am saying this because at the beginning I thought that the scar will be visible forever.

The scar was not glued or anything like that. We were on holiday and stupidly, I thought that because the bleeding stopped very quickly, it was not as deep and it would be ok. The scar was a bit wide yes. In retrospect, if it was glued, it would not have an indentation.

I can tell you what I have done and what I keep on doing and you can choose what is best for you.

• First of all, I let it completely heal. I was putting the usual bits we would put to a wound plus making sure she was always wearing a hat in the sun and that it was clean.
• then I started religiously massaging it every single night for two years after she was deeply asleep. I did not want her to feel conscious that there is ‘something wrong’ on her forehead. After the massage with bio oil or a few different oils, I was wiping a bit, I was putting kelocote silicone gel and then on top silicone sticker. My aim was to make sure it was not raised. In the morning I was removing the silicone sticker before her waking up.
• i religiously put sun cream on and she now knows that when it is sunny we always put suncream on the face.
• for about 12 months I was putting kelo cote during the day a few times a day. At the nursery they were applying it too which was very helpful.
• about 2 years post fall, I decided that I would leave it and address it again when she is older. And then she had a comment about her scar by a not very helpful elderly relative and she felt conscious about it which was the worst. Exactly what I was trying to avoid. Surprisingly, she asked me if ‘we can go to the doctor to fix it like he fixed mummy’s scar (I had lazer for a pretty big sunspot that she noticed was gone). Long story short, I took her to a paediatric dermatologist specialising in children scaring (revisions and other more serious stuff) abroad when we were on holiday and he suggested RF microneedling. He showed her the machine and exactly how it would be done. I told her that if she ever wants it she can do it. She wanted to try and we have done 2 sessions so far and we have to have 2 more minimum. From my point of view, if she wants to continue, then am happy to pay for it. If she doesn’t, the gold standard is a specific type of laser and she can do it when she is a teenager or later.

3 years on, it is exactly the colour of her skin with a light white line in the middle. In most lights it looks flat and movable which I am told is good for collagen regeneration that will happen naturally with time. However, at direct sunlight, or at an angle, you can see the dip. It is ever so slight but visible due to the reflection. It is in the middle of her forehead and looks like a frown line hence why I have tried to minimise it as much as I can.

I hope it is helpful. If you want anything else, do let me know.

Thank you so much for your lovely reply @MrsMargot — it honestly means a lot. It’s so reassuring to hear that your daughter’s scar has improved so much over time. I’ve been feeling quite emotional about it all, so your message really gave me some hope.

You’ve done such an amazing job looking after it, and I completely get what you said about not wanting her to feel self-conscious. I’m the same with my little one, just trying to quietly help it heal without making her aware of it.

I hope you don’t mind me asking one more thing… was your daughter’s wound gaping when it first happened, or was it more of a surface cut? My daughter’s was gaping and needed to be glued at A&E, but even after the glue, the scar has about a 3mm gap. It’s right in the middle of her forehead too, just like your daughter’s — so I’ve been quite anxious about how it’ll heal in such a visible spot.

Would you say your daughter’s scar was around the same width?

Thank you again — it’s really kind of you to share.