How to Prevent Scarring After a Polydactyl Surgery

If you have a child who was born with polydactyly (where you have extra digits), one of the first things that you may want to do is look into removal surgery. Here at our office, Dr. Smith has the training and expertise to perform these surgeries so that your child doesn’t have to live their life feeling self-conscious. To help lower the chances of your little one scarring after surgery, we have a few tips for you.

Avoid the sun

Sunshine will only darken your child’s scar and make it more noticeable. Try to keep them out of the sun while their hand or foot is healing from surgery. If they are tiny enough to keep in a stroller, just make sure that they are covered on walks and that you put some sunscreen over the scar while it’s healing.

Use Cream

Another thing that you can do is cover the scar with some cream that we will give you after surgery or you can use something like Aquaphor. Similar to any other scar, a scar after this type of surgery may get dry and cracked which can make it a lot more noticeable. However when you keep it moisturized and lubricated, it will prevent the scar from getting worse.

Keep It Covered

Right after surgery, we will bandage their wounds and give you instructions on how to care for it. Make sure that you follow these instructions exactly because they won’t just help prevent infections, but they will also prevent severe scarring as well.

If you have any questions while your child is recovering from surgery, don’t hesitate to give our Oakhurst office and call (718) 608-1111.

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