Should I be concerned?

[Nancy Rivers 24]

Tuesday will be 3 weeks after my surgery. I've had itching around the incisions, but since most of the "scabs" have come off, the itching has subsided. The one incision on the left (the largest one - it's the one they took my stomach out of) still had a bit of scab left in the center - and on one edge. The scab in the center was partially loose, but still attached, so I have been leaving it alone.

Today, I got a pain - kinda like a needle being stuck into that incision - right where the scab in the middle was. So, I lightly rubbed over it (that has sometimes helped when I get itching or slight pains). Well, part of the scab in the middle came off, and then it started bleeding. It didn't bleed a whole lot - I was able to stop it fairly quickly and it was only a large drop and then a couple of smaller drops. I have since washed the whole area with anti-biotic soap (dial) and have put some neosporin and a band-aid on that particular incision.

All of the other incisions are healing well.

Should I be worried that it started bleeding this long after surgery?

[TheButterfly145 9]

I don't think you should be overly concerned with just a couple drops of blood. My doctor was really adamit about not putting any creams, ointments etc or bandaids on my incisions. He said they heal much faster when they are exposed to the air as much as possible. I have an herbal salve that I just rub into them when they get super dried out and flaky. I would say that you might bring it up to your doc but giving them air definitely helps the most.

My weird experience, my largest incision got a little itchy and I was talking on the phone and scratching lightly without realizing it and I felt something odd. I looked down and it looked like I had 1/4 inch of fishing line poking out! It was just the tail of the disolvable suture that had worked its way out and I was able to snip it off near the skin. Everything inside will disolve eventually. At least... that's what they said - not sure how I could actually verify that....

[Nancy Rivers 24]

I had been leaving them all open to the air and not putting anything on them. I only did it because it bled a bit and I wanted to make sure it didn't get infected. I plan to take it off in the morning.

Thanks.

[SuperMom 33]

Same thing happened to me. Doctor said not to worry unless redness got bigger than quarter. Four weeks after surgery all scabs were gone and one stitch formed a little pimple thing that I accidently scratched and the stitch came out. After it healed all up. Weird.

[SeattleSue 25]

I think you'll be fine. If it gets red, inflamed, and warm to the touch...get it looked at. For goodness sake, stop picking your scabs!! ewwwwww just kidding

[ThatDudesMom 13]

You might find this thread from a few days ago interesting.

http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/21742-anyones-incision-pain-get-worse-before-it-got-better/page__p__183533__fromsearch__1#entry183533

[Nancy Rivers 24]

Well, it was getting red around it, so I called the surgeon today. The PA had me come in (the surgeon is out of town right now) and she took a look at it. On one side, the knot of the stitches was poking through, so she trimmed it. She said that it didn't look infected "yet" but it was definitely irritated and could develop into an infection, so she gave me a prescription for an antibiotic for one week just to make sure I won't get an infection.