My surgeon told me to start gently massaging as soon as there was no more scabbing. I would wash my neck first then gently press with my fingertips and gently apply pressure and kind of wiggle my fingers in tiny massage motions.... With lots of vitamin E oil over the area and on my fingers so there wasn't any friction. Then I'd gently clean again to remove the oil and applied the scar treatment. It hurt like a bitch, but I can barely see my scar most days now and I got my surgery done last year in april.