C Section Opened A Little
6 Replies
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I had a c-section 10 days ago, I went to the dr's office yesterday to get the staples removed. This afternoon I noticed that it had opened about the size of half a toothpick. Nothing is draining from it but I got scared and called the dr's office the nurse said that it was normal that sometimes they open and that it would heal on its own, she said to put peroxide on it and not to get it wet. I don't know what to do I'm a bit scared. Myg randmother cleand and patched the area with a c section kit. I'm scared to call the dr's office because i feel like they think i'm crazy..
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What you are describing sounds like part of the healing process with my three c-sections (I always had tiny areas that seemed like they were "open", but I healed ok)... but, that said, I'd call and make them take a look at it anyway... if it truly is opening you don't want to mess around. Have you ever seen posts on here by Nerdy Girl? I think I remember that she had a similar problem and saw a wound specialist and they said that peroxide is actually not the best thing for an open c-section wound. But, c___p... I can't remember specific details and I'm not sure of she checks over here anymore. I do know that she's regularly on another forum... I'll have to ask her to come take a look at your post tomorrow. She's always had helpful answers about incisions coming open. In the meantime I'd say... call and bug your doc for an appt... better safe than sorry!
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I am going to try to find one of my old posts on this topic and bump it up so I don't have to retype it. But for now, STOP THE PEROXIDE. These d__n OB's. .. They are surgeons, so you would think they would be up to date on how to care for wounds!
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Here is a "cut and paste" from an old post on this topic. I really didn't want to have to retype all of this:
Janie, I am glad you are finally healing. But anyone else going thru this, DO NOT USE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE. It actually prolongs the healing process because it eats away the granulating tissue (healing tissue). My OB told me to use peroxide on my open incision, and thank goodness I have friends who are physical therapists and raised an eyebrow to this advice. Using peroxide on an open wound is an very old-school way of treating a wound. If you talk to a wound care therapist, they will tell you this. If anyone else is going thru the horror of an open c-section wound, I would strongly advise you to see out a a would care specialist for help. There are specialized dressings nowadays that can speed things along. And it is a shame that our OB's (who are SURGEONS) have no clue on the recent advanced treatment methods.
The wound care specialist I talked to recommended Allevyn dressings. They were amazing! They sealed up the area and promoted moist wound healing. They did not irritate my skin or pull the hair. I used one per day and even wore them in the shower. It took 7 weeks for my incision to fully close, but I bet it would have taken longer had I been using the peroxide. The only bad news for me was that I ended up with some hypergranulation (excess tissue growth) that bulged out of the incision once it closed up, since the wound had to basically heal from the inside out. The hypergranulation hardened into this big lump. My scar looks hideous and I am considering having it revised.
There was a time during my healing process that the goal was to keep the wound moist, and then it changed and the goal was to keep it dry. When the incision was actually still bulging open, that is when the Allevyn was ideal because it created a moist healing environment. I know that sounds kind of gross, but that is the newest school of thought on wound healing - that the tissue heals fast in a moist environment, so you sort of want to keep all of the wound seepage in there and only change the dressing once per day. Then, once my would actually closed up and the hypergranulation was dangling out (eeeew!), then I needed to try to keep it dry in the hopes that the hypergranulation would sort of harden up on its own. The plastic surgeon I consulted with for the scar revision told me that if I would have come in to see him a little sooner, he could have numbed me up right in the office just removed that excess hypergranulation tissue.
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Kaiz777, I really never come back to this board. Sahmof3 and I chat over on CafeMom sometimes and she sent me over here. If you want to talk to me directly about this since I went thru it, please feel free to email me at two_nerds AT sbcglobal.net (sorry, this forum won't let me post my email address properly). Or come on over to CafeMom and visit us there.
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Thank you sahmof3 for getting in touch with her. Well yesterday my cut smelled and it burned, so my husband took me to er sincer we were visiting my daughter in nicu, and they said it was starting to get infected, so they gave me antibiotics. I hope that it cures it, because this is really scary.
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That IS scary! I hope everything heals well for you when the antibiotics start working.
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