Concerned about your thyroid incision surgery scar?
Having a Thyroidectomy (removal of all or part of your Thyroid gland) is not fun. One of the first concerns is usually the thyroid surgery scar care and will it heal and how visible will it be?
What will it look like in 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 months 6 months, a year? Will other people notice? How do I care for the scar so it's less noticeable and will fade. Can I go out into the sun again?
I know these were some of my biggest concerns, let's face it, your neck is right there on display for the world to see. You don't want to be wearing a scarf all the time, and you may wonder will my jewelry or my favorite necklace draw attention to the scar?
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Why Have Your Thyroid Removed?
If you can avoid it, don't have your thyroid removed. Try everything you can first to heal your thyroid:
- Eating a whole food organic diet
- Eliminating as many chemicals in your life as possible
- Exercising
- Drinking lots of water
- Going gluten free (gluten is very hard on the thyroid)
- Taking supplements
- Find a good holistic doctor that specializes in thyroids
- Follow experts such as Mary Shomon or Amy Myers MD on Facebook
If your thyroid has cancerous nodules like mine, see if they can remove part of it instead of all. In hindsight, this is what I wished I had done.
What Happens Afterwards?
Once your thyroid is gone, all the hormones that your thyroid produce go with it. Those hormones have SEVERAL jobs to do in your body.
It's important to have a good doctor that you trust. They will balance your thyroid meds you'll take the rest of your life to supplement not having a thyroid.
What Exactly Is An Incision Scar Made Of?
A scar is fibrous connective tissue that forms the scar left over after the surgery.
Scar tissue is thick, pale and dense, compared to tissue around the area and has limited blood supply.
This is why protecting and caring for your thyroid surgery scar is so important. Do this scar treatment and you'll be so glad you did!
My scar had dissolvable stitches on the outside with glue and some stitches on the inside. After my chiropractor did some X Rays on my neck, we found I had several staples inside my neck. The staples are that are in the shape of my thyroid.
Ask your doctor how your opening will be sealed up and if you will have staples. I'm not crazy about having that metal in my body and wished I had known before the surgery I was getting those.
What Do The Doctors Say About The Scar?
My doctor told me he would cut into a line or wrinkle on my neck. This allows the thyroid surgery scar to disappear and hardly be visible. He told me as long as I cared for it correctly (covered below), I should be good to go.
This was a relief, but as you will see, when I came out of surgery I was a little alarmed. My husband and I thought he had lied to us!
Does the Thyroid Biopsy Leave A Scar?
The biopsy didn't leave a scar. It was a very tiny hole from a needle and was not even noticeable after I removed the bandaid.
The bandaid was so big though, I was worried!
This is a very sick girl in the picture below. If you're experiencing thyroid issues, you know how it can mess up your body and mental state.
In this first photo, I am exhausted, my hair was thinning, my voice was hoarse, it was hard to swallow and I felt terrible.
Right after leaving the thyroid biopsy to check for cancer.
It wasn't as bad as I dreamed up it would be. I drove myself back to work, no issues.
Do Thyroid Scars Go Away?
Maybe not completely, but nobody notices mine. I have to look hard to see it, but I do believe a lot of that has to do with how you care for the scar.
Of course, the thyroid surgery scar is nothing compared to having cancer in your body. Having the cancer is gone is a relief and the scar will be a small price to pay for that great pay off.
As you'll see below, mine is not visible now unless I look close and nobody ever notices. When I tell folks I've had my thyroid removed, they usually comment that they can't see the scar.
How Long Does It Take For The Incision Scar To Heal?
This of course depends on your surgeon, how you care for it and other factors.
Mine was so MUCH better after 8 weeks. I felt like 3 months in, I wasn't conscious about it any more and at 6 months, I forgot all about it.
You'll see the progress in the pictures below.
What Does A Thyroid Surgery Scar Look Like?
Here's the scar still in the hospital and we were a little – well, let's be honest – a LOT concerned about the size of the scar.
My husband didn't tell me at the time how concerned he was. He acted like all was OK and he didn't notice. (he's sweet like that)
As I prepared to write this for you, I asked my husband what he thought about the scar right after surgery. He said “I thought the doctor was a big fat liar”!
Here's the scar a few days after surgery.
My hubby got me this cool art kit to give me something to do during recovery. This really helped keep my mind off things and reduced stress. I'll link to one below.
About 3 weeks after surgery when I found out the doctor got all the cancer out. I was a happy camper!
8 Weeks after surgery
I remember someone at this event telling me they couldn't tell I had surgery.
1 year later
19 months after surgery
I don't notice any more
Today (2 years later)
It's a non issue
OK, hopefully you get the picture (no pun intended – ha) that's all I want to see of myself!
Thyroid Scar Care (Treatment)
Thyroid scar care is so important. The doctor told me to use Mederma scar cream on the thyroid surgery scar 2-3 times a day until it started to heal.
NEVER go outside without SPF on the scar
Because a scar is paler than the surrounding skin and tender, it's very open to sun damage. This is why another VERY important part of vanishing your scar is SPF. Never go outside without it. Just dab a little bit right on the scar.
Ingredients In Your SPF Matters!
Warning about SPF ingredients. Many SPFs are full of chemicals and now that I'm cancer free, I want as few chemicals in my life as possible.
You should use all natural SPF, with none of the bad stuff.
I've tried many different all natural SPFs and Sun Bum is my all time favorite.
Many natural SPFs don't rub in good and stay on the skin like a big white blob. This is due to the zinc oxide and no chemicals to smooth it out. Sun Bum actually soaks in like the ones with chemicals.
The skin is the biggest organ in the body and has pores so why would you want to rub chemicals all over it?? The chemicals rubbed into your skin go straight into the blood.
My theory – chemicals rubbed into the skin, combined with the rays from the sun and the depletion of the ozone layer have contributed to the raise of skin cancer.
Sun Bum protects skin from harmful UVA/UVB rays while enriching skin with Vitamin E. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps to neutralize free radicals, and f ree radicals are the main cause of premature skin aging.
Sun Bum is also Hypoallergenic, Reef Friendly / Oxybenzone Free & Octinoxate Free, Cruelty Free, Vegan, Oil Free, Paraben Free, Gluten Free, PABA Free, and Water Resistant!
When you buy or make SPF, make sure it contains Zinc Oxide.
- Zinc oxide
- Beeswax
- Coconut oil
- Lavender, Myrrh, and Carrot seed essential oils.
On your scar, you can use these oils:
- Frankincense
- Sandalwood
- Lavender
Apply 2-6 drops on the scar 1-2 times/day.
You can also make a blend with these:
- Myrrh – 8 drops
- Lavender – 6 drops
- Helichrysum – 4 drops
- Sacred Sandalwood or Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood – 4 drop
- 1 Tablespoon Vitamin E oil
- 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
I also put Young Living's Rose Ointment on mine as part of my thyroid scar care.
You can use my link here and get 20% off all Young Living when you become a member.
When you put the cream or the oils on your scar, gently message the scar to help flatten it out.
Eating Healthy Affects Recovery
Eating healthy (this is when I started my Keto journey) and drinking lots of water is very important to the healing process.
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The Thyroid Connection: Why You Feel Tired, Brain-Fogged, and Overweight — and How to Get Your Life Back
Living Well with Hypothyroidism: What Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You… That You Need to Know
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Learn More About A Thyroidectomy (Thyroid Removal)
If you want to learn more about a thyroidectomy you can visit the Mayo Clinic's site here.
Life After A Thyroidectomy
Today at 54, I feel better than I did back in my 30's. I think I had thyroid issues for years and didn't realize it. I also had a HORRIBLE diet and believe that is the main thing that led to the thyroid issues and cancer.
Today I follow a gluten free, Keto lifestyle and practice intermittent fasting.
You can learn more about both, in these articles: Keto Diet Review, Before and After and How to Start and 19 Awesome Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting
Your health is so precious, and so many times we take it for granted until we are faced with an uncertain future. Take care of your body and it will take care of you! You only get 1.
Click here to grab some free Keto Resources such as:
- Keto Eating Out Guide
- Free 5 Day Video Training – Prepare to Blast Your Belly Fat!
- 23+ Keto and Gluten Free Recipe Download
- Keto Snack Ideas
- Keto Drink Guide
- More!
Conclusion
Hope this gives you some ideas about what to expect from your thyroid surgery and how your scar will look and how to care for it. Thyroid scar care is an important part of your recovery. Sending you lots of love and hugs if you are facing surgery or recovering.
To your health,
Jamie
Remember, I am a health coach, not a licensed medical professional and the advice on this page is from my personal experience, health coach certification training or from the experience of friends or clients. You should talk with your medical professional when seeking advice about a medical condition.
Tk you for sharing your story. I’m getting ready to face the same challenges. You gave me some great questions to ask the doctor.
Hi there, I do believe your blog could possibly be having browser compatibility issues. Whenever I look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in IE, it has some overlapping issues. I simply wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other than that, fantastic site!
Hi jamie,
Nice information about thyroid surgery scar. Got to know a lot of new things from your post.
Thankyou for taking a time to write an informative article.
Hi Deepak! You’re so welcome. I’m so glad it helped you learn more about thyroid surgery scars and taking care of them. Come back often!
Thanks for sharing your story. This sounds like a scary process but it’s so encouraging to hear people coming out of it well. You shared some great info! Thank you!
Thank you Em! So glad you stopped by and hope you come back soon. Take care!
You look radiant!! Thank you for sharing this beautiful post ❤️
Awe, thank you so much Ann. That is so sweet. Take care, and stay healthy! ❤️
Thank you for sharing! How helpful to see how your scar changed over the last few years!!!
So glad it helped Megan. Take care and come back!
Thanks for sharing your thyroid surgery journey! SO glad it was successful! <3
Thank you Mallory! I love sharing and helping others. Take care!
What an amazing story! Scary but so encouraging, thank you so much for sharing something so personal. You’re looking amazing!
Thank you so much Lindsey! Hoping it helps others get through a scary time. So glad that is behind me! Take care!
Helpful information. Glad you healed up nicely and you are able to help others through the experience! Usually I make up fun stories when it comes to scars….. “I rescued some kids from a pack of wolverines,” something like that. :D. Keep on!
HI Scott! LOVE your idea about a story – lol. I need to come up with a good one. 🙂 Take care!
I’m so sorry you had to go through this but you look amazing and NO SCAR! This was really interesting to read because I didn’t know a lot about thyroid surgery or much about illnesses connected to your thyroid other than hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. I’m so glad you’re better, and thanks for sharing your story!
Hi Heather! So glad you you learned some more about the thyroid. It can sure cause a lot of issues. Please share with anyone that could use it. Take care!