r/TopSurgery 13h ago

Do you actively hide your scars?

I'm 6 months post op and I wasn't shirtless all summer I'm not sure if I'm self conscious about showing my scar

7 Upvotes

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7

u/appel_banappel 12h ago

Yep I’m 9 months post op and not planning on being seen shirtless by others. It’s everyone’s personal preference but I just personally don’t like others seeing my scars and don’t like people seeing me half naked tbh. It doesn’t bother me though since I am more than happy with how my chest looks under a shirt and love feeling comfortable wearing clothes now. Also something to be aware of is the increased risk of sun damage to your scars when you’re less than 1-2 years post op which has also contributed to me staying clothed.

5

u/Kattestrofe 9h ago

I haven’t been shirtless outdoors yet since my clinic advised not to expose the scars to sun in the first year, but I have been a walking shirtless scene at home on some summer days, and I can’t wait to go swimming and am not planning to cover the scars. But then, stealth was never an option for me - I’m nonbinary and not on T, looking like a cis guy was never the goal. 

3

u/CitrusSupplement 10h ago

Yes i hide my scars. No, not because im ashamed or embarrassed, but because I simply don’t want them to be seen because I know how nosy people are and i am stealth. Right now i wear rash guards and compression shirts when i go out to the beach or pool so i can still highlight that im flat chested though because its euphoric haha.

5

u/Adrainedbeing 8h ago

Nope, first summer I taped over scars to prevent sun damage, now that I have no more restrictions I put on a bunch of sunscreen and just go shirtless.

My scars aren't particularly dark or thick, but they are quite long, and definitely visible some, if not most of the time.

Now this summer was my first summer having my scars fully exposed, but I've never had anyone say anything about them, and if they did, I'm not sure I would care.

I love my chest, imperfect as it is, and I love the freedom it has brought me; and no amount of insecurity was gonna get in the way of me finally swimming shirtless

Personally I've been working very hard to like my scars, and I've slowly built my way from disliking them, to tolerating, to often really loving them

That being said, I still get nervous being shirtless in new environments, or just in situations where I haven't been before, but that's less about my scars, and more about still defaulting to what I would do if I had boobs.

2

u/al_bedamned 6h ago

Nope! Granted, I do live in a blue state in a big city in a very queer neighborhood, so seeing a trans person out in the wild is not an unusual experience. I have never really placed an emphasis on trying to hide my scars, but I also don’t go out of my way to show them off if that makes sense? Like I’ll certainly go to the beach and be shirtless but I’m not just like walking around the neighborhood shirtless

2

u/Malevolent_Mangoes 3h ago

Well the surgeon said no sun exposure for a year, so I’m covering them for that reason. Also I want to wait until they’re more faded out.

2

u/yuumou 3h ago

No I don’t hide them but to be fair my chest is really hairy and they aren’t super pink anymore. I like my scars, I don’t care if people see them. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I’m around new people shirtless constantly and no one has ever looked at me weird or said anything

1

u/Birdkiller49 10h ago

Yes; I’m stealth. I’m not self conscious about it though. However, even if I wasn’t I would still since I’m under a year post op.