Incision opening

Bless you, this is horrible. My incision opened up quite a lot on one side a couple of days after the procedure (basically as soon as we came home from hospital). I went back to hospital for them to tell me that they wouldn’t restitch it (even though there was quite a lot of bleeding) and to just put another dressing on for a couple of days, then take it off and air it etc. I actually went against this advice, bought my own dressings and would change it once a day for maybe two weeks? So I would take the dressing off, clean and air it for half an hour and then dressing back on. I eventually stopped this when the bleeding pretty much stopped (but it was still open). It was open for maybe 5 weeks? It may have been longer but eventually it closed back up. What’s important is trying to give it some support, high waist pants on and please do as little as possible, lay down as much as possible and I know it’s hard with a newborn but minimise physical activity as much as possible.

I would present by I A&E, and bring baby to avoid the wait, all they need to do is assess you and bleep a gynea doctor to come and assess it.potentially re suture it. Or buy steri strips to hold it together, then buy silicone scar tape cut to size and it will hold for up to a week even in the shower

I also forgot to say that I had two infections and two lots of antibiotics but it was needed and now it’s looking pretty good!

Are you very flexible by any chance? That seems like a weird question I know! But some connective tissue disorders, like Hypermobility, come with slow healing. My incision healed slowly because of this. Just thinking outside the box!

I've been to MAU and my GP and MAU were amazing! Had 3 swabs done and it's been infection free the whole time just bacteria from my new apron belly. MAU didn't want to give me further antibiotics because I'd literally just finished my course when it really opened again The first time it opened, I was covering it day and night and this was before I was on antibiotics. I don't think they'll do anything because the openings aren't big enough to close

Are you cleaning it too much? I literally didn’t touch mine unless in the shower with the water running over it. I just wonder if it hasn’t been able to heal/close together because you’ve cleaned it too much/too much liquid on it?

I forgot to mention in my comments earlier to please be kind to yourself, it will get better, I promise. I know it’s crap and I felt like I wasn’t doing enough and I felt really low because of it too.

@Emily 😵‍💫 if this is a thing I'm very annoyed at the doctor at MAU who told me to clean it multiple times a day, I'll try to just clean it in the shower for a few days to see what happens. Thank youuu! Currently have gauze pads on the openings because I have an apron belly to see what happens

I'm 16wks post section and it still keeps opening up. I do have Hypermobility though so as @Catherine said it could be related to that.

Are the openings deep? It may keep opening as it needs to heal from the bottom up so if it’s closing but not closed underneath it will reopen again regardless of if infection is present. Have you seen your practice nurse for wound care advice? X

It took me 11 weeks for my c section to heal I had 2 openings one around a cm long and one a little smaller. the nurse at the GP surgery ended up redressing them and giving me some to change at home every 3 days after the 10 week mark as I wasn't getting anywhere it finally healed by doing this at 13 weeks

@Kimberley oh gosh! Yeah I was told to not touch it, and the only time to wash it was in the shower and letting the water flow down/over it, and then pat it dry with a clean towel!

Don't panic, it can take a long time to heal but it will heal! Mine took 4 months to heal completely. It's important not to spray water at it with the shower directly as this can cause a re opening, use a low setting, I used cold water , warm can carry more bacteria. I then dried using a hair drier on cold, low speed again important as heat will cause bacteria. I would clean my hands and dab not wipe with saline wound wipes from boots, important not to use anything that's not just salt as it will mess the ph of the wound . I used sterile gorse and tucked it under my stomach overhang , I wore big nickers which also helped keep it in place. Important to remove it if your exercising or even walking much as it will rub and cause more problems . I cleaned once a day after shower and changed gause twice a day. I got gawk gause of amazon. I ran most of this by my doctor you should do the same so you can make a plan .

Best thing you can do is get a GP appointment and tell them it's driving you mad and upsetting you . They will be able to reassure you. It will heal honestly, I felt just like you but I'm great now no problems. You've got this !

Mine kept looking open and red also smelly from the sweat being trapped! I had a few weeks of antibiotics and nothing helped. Then was prescribed a fungal cream and it is literally healing straight away! Also was prescribed some new plasters to keep it covered but haven’t actually had to use them xx

I had the same mine re opened on the right hand side. I had mine dressed again untill it showed signs of scanning over and then had dressing off. My daughter is 20 weeks old and it's only been fully closed for around 6 weeks now. Keep going it will close its just time. Xxxxx

I struggled with mine, I had to dry with hair dryer (on cold) then put some padding there either a sanitary towel or some gauze and dr prescribed a steroid cream x