Start once the wound has completely closed and any sutures or staples are out. After most procedures that is around two weeks, but the person who operated on you is the best judge of when your wound has closed — not a calendar, and not a product label.
Why not sooner
Silicone gel is designed to sit on skin, not on a wound. Applying it to an open incision, a weeping area, or a line that still has sutures in it puts a film over tissue that needs to stay clean and be inspected. It does not help the wound close faster, and it gets in the way of the people checking on it.
The same goes for skin that is infected or inflamed. Spreading redness, warmth, swelling, discharge or a fever is a reason to call your surgeon, not a reason to reach for a scar product.
Why sooner is better than later
A scar is not finished when the wound closes. Underneath, the body spends months rebuilding and reorganising collagen, and it is during that remodelling window that a scar decides how raised, how red and how firm it is going to settle. Topical care is working with that process while it is still underway.
The published research reflects this. In one open-label trial (Medhi 2013, 36 patients, no control group), patients started an advanced-formula silicone gel between ten days and three weeks after their operation and applied it twice daily for three months. In a comparative case series of 80 facial surgical scars (Yun 2013), treatment began at stitch removal and continued to six months post-op. Both started as soon as the skin was closed — not months afterwards. Both are summarised, with their limitations, on the clinical evidence page.
What "fully healed" actually looks like
Before you start, the incision line should be:
- Closed along its whole length, with no gaps, scabs lifting, or areas still opening
- Dry — no weeping, no discharge, nothing needing a dressing
- Free of sutures or staples, or with dissolvable sutures fully gone
- Not infected — no spreading redness, no heat, no increasing pain
If any part of that list is not true yet, wait, and ask at your follow-up appointment if you are unsure.
If your scar is already months or years old
Start anyway. Older scars respond more slowly and less dramatically than new ones, because most of the remodelling is already done — but "less" is not "none". Silicone is still used on established raised scars; the change is slower and smaller. Set your expectations by the age of the scar, then give it the full course before you judge it.
The first application
Wash and dry the area, apply a thin layer, let it dry for a few minutes, and repeat two to three times a day, as the leaflet directs. The application guide has the routine in detail, and the surgical scars page describes what to expect from a surgical line specifically.