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Original poster

How long does an abscess wound take to heal?

69 replies

Soresoresore · 13/04/2022 23:27

Had emergency surgery under general anaesthetic to cut out an abscess 3 weeks ago. Surgical wound was 6cm deep initially and is now 3.5cm deep.

It’s being packed and dressed every other day at the clinic and is obviously healing but is still a big open wound with lots of clear exudate.

I have googled but cannot find anything on healing times. Has anyone had anything similar? How long before you stopped having to go and have it packed and dressed?

Thank you!

OP posts:
felineweird · 14/04/2022 19:52

Crumbs, I'm sure it will heal more than that but unfortunately you probably will have quite a bad scar 😕

Frazzled2207 · 14/04/2022 23:07

Mine (two month on) is an angry raised red scar but I imagine the redness will go down and luckily it’s hidden in my armpit so won’t be very visible. Although the initial cut was literally a slit I think it must be very difficult to predict how they heal.

Frazzled2207 · 14/04/2022 23:08

Sorry when I said angry I mean colour it doesn’t hurt at all

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General health
thunderonlyhappenswhenits · 14/04/2022 23:10

I had a pilondial sinus removed and was left with an open wound which had to be packed and dressed, wouldn't wish it on anyone ! Took about 3 months in total

Frazzled2207 · 14/04/2022 23:11

Hijacking slightly but I’d love a professional view of why they don’t stitch these things up
@winterchills !?
Having to visit the nurse for weeks/months on end is exceedingly tedious

thunderonlyhappenswhenits · 14/04/2022 23:15

It's called wide open excision or something, where they leave it open it's meant to heal from the bottom up, eventually the hole just got smaller and smaller to pack. It was rank. And bloody massive, I remember being shocked they would let someone go home with a massive hole in them !

thunderonlyhappenswhenits · 14/04/2022 23:16

@Frazzled2207

Hijacking slightly but I’d love a professional view of why they don’t stitch these things up *@winterchills* !? Having to visit the nurse for weeks/months on end is exceedingly tedious
My partner did mine as the district nurse did a shocking job and it all fell out ! The surgeon actually said he could have a job lol
MrOllivander · 14/04/2022 23:56

They tried to close mine with silver nitrate sticks until I said NO MORE. Apparently people usually tolerate it well. Fuck that Grin
I asked how long he would like an open wound in his armpit for, and I got referred to have it closed surgically (under local)

Original poster
Soresoresore · 15/04/2022 07:47

@Frazzled2207

Hijacking slightly but I’d love a professional view of why they don’t stitch these things up *@winterchills* !? Having to visit the nurse for weeks/months on end is exceedingly tedious
They don’t stitch deep surgical wounds because they need them to heal from the inside out. They pack the wound and the depth decreases as the wound heals.

Mine started at 6cm deep and is now approx 3cm deep so it is healing from the bottom up.

Each time I have it packed and dressed (every other day) it is checked for infection.
If the wound was stitched up on the outside there would be no way of doing this.

So, basically, If they stitch them up, the outside skin heals before the inside with a risk of infection.

OP posts:
Original poster
Soresoresore · 15/04/2022 07:50

@thunderonlyhappenswhenits

It's called wide open excision or something, where they leave it open it's meant to heal from the bottom up, eventually the hole just got smaller and smaller to pack. It was rank. And bloody massive, I remember being shocked they would let someone go home with a massive hole in them !
I was shocked too! 6cm is the size of an egg! An egg size hole 😳😳😳😳😳
OP posts:
LynetteScavo · 15/04/2022 07:58

I think the how long is a piece of string answer is about right. DSIL had a wound which took a couple of years to heal - the nurse used to dig out gunk and repack it and had no idea why is didn't just heal. Gruesome!

Nitgel · 15/04/2022 08:00

Mine took about 8 weeks in the last few weeks I went every other day then twice a week. I have a tiny scar and thecabscess iwas quite big. I don't think they have a sac do they as it's not a cyst.

This is my 2nd one. Who knows why it's unknown. Had blood tests nothing came up. They're a pain but would rather a nurse kept an eye on the healing as do not want trouble from the wound.

It's crazy how fast they grow.

olympicsrock · 15/04/2022 08:00

I’m a surgeon . The time to heal depends on where abouts in the body, how good your health is otherwise, ( diabetes etc , nutrition / smoking etc.
An abscess doesn’t have a true wall/ capsule by the way, an infected cyst does…

The cavity is left open to allow fluid/ infection to drain freely . If you closed the wound, the ‘badness’ would be trapped inside leading to further problems.
6 cm deep is a really big abscess cavity. I would use a negative pressure vaccine dressing in this situation which can keep the surrounding skin clean and dry and speeds up healing.

boredsolicitor · 15/04/2022 08:22

no advice but i'm curious about what an abscess is really? is it like a big boil ? or a cyst that's got infected? i never knew it was so common or needed such a long period of treatment. i thought it was just a big spot but i can see i have got that wrong .

Frazzled2207 · 15/04/2022 09:24

Yes like a big boil. Mine was like a golf ball -grim. Surgeons make an incision to drain out the fluid and then suck out all the surrounding gunk.

@olympicsrock
Thanks for that

felineweird · 15/04/2022 09:27

Mine was an infected cyst

Shehasadiamondinthesky · 15/04/2022 09:29

How long is a piece of string? Depends on where it is, skin pull, comorbidities, lifestyle and so on and so forth.

boredsolicitor · 15/04/2022 09:37

eeeewwwww! thank you for explaining and i hope it's soon properly healed sore sore !

RagzRebooted · 15/04/2022 09:39

@Frazzled2207

Hijacking slightly but I’d love a professional view of why they don’t stitch these things up *@winterchills* !? Having to visit the nurse for weeks/months on end is exceedingly tedious
Because you want it healing from the bottom upwards. If you had it stitched, there would be a cavity which would fill with fluid and get infected. The packing is to keep the wound open so that it heals the right way. It will eventually heal upwards and then skin will grow once it is level with the rest of you.

I've had some heal in 3-4 weeks and others take 3-4 months. It really does depend on so many factors, like your health and diet and whether it gets infected again.

(Practice nurse)

ChristmasAtHogwarts · 15/04/2022 09:40

Hi OP
I’m a nurse and I’d say at least six weeks ish
Are you eating a high protein diet? This will help with healing - a good varied diet, lots of fish and chicken and fruit and vegetables for optimum healing

Original poster
Soresoresore · 15/04/2022 16:00

@olympicsrock

I’m a surgeon . The time to heal depends on where abouts in the body, how good your health is otherwise, ( diabetes etc , nutrition / smoking etc. An abscess doesn’t have a true wall/ capsule by the way, an infected cyst does…

The cavity is left open to allow fluid/ infection to drain freely . If you closed the wound, the ‘badness’ would be trapped inside leading to further problems.
6 cm deep is a really big abscess cavity. I would use a negative pressure vaccine dressing in this situation which can keep the surrounding skin clean and dry and speeds up healing.

They are packing it with Aquacel and the dressing is Kliniderm foam silicone border 12.5. Up until a few days ago these were soaking up a lot of fluid. I’ve be prescribed a truck load (well not quite but I have plenty) and take them to each appointment which seems to please the district nurses as I guess it means I am not using their stock?!

Anyway, I have been calling it an abscess but it did start as a massive cyst I think. My GP originally called it a cyst…
It was huge and ruptured internally which is why I was so poorly. Fever and chills with cellulitis on the surface of the skin.

I had antibiotics on a drip at A&E - My GP told me I needed to visit the urgent care hub and it went on from there.

It’s healing well thanks to the district nurses and they have all commented that I’ve had a good chunk taken out & that it is a fair old size!

All very dramatic but a lesson to everyone - if you feel very unwell speak to your GP. They said that if they hadn’t acted there was a danger of something called Septic shock. Doesn’t sound good.

Unbelievably though, I’m now just a few weeks on and the depth has halved which is promising.

OP posts:
Original poster
Soresoresore · 15/04/2022 16:03

Many of you have mentioned diet to aid healing. Thank you, I need to make a conscious effort to eat more healthily.

OP posts:
Frazzled2207 · 15/04/2022 16:06

OP given the size it does seem to be healing really quickly which is great

Regarding diet, I wasn’t told that but was told to keep as active as possible to keep plenty of oxygen going through the bloodstream

I’m a runner and was unable to run for several weeks, until the nurse let my dh do the dressings and at that point I’d run then shower and let my dh sort it immediately afterwards. Helped my recovery I think.

olympicsrock · 15/04/2022 16:09

Oh dear you poor thing - sounds very nasty.
A good choice of simple dressings. Aquacel packing will be effective. The use of more sophisticated dressing therapy such as Vac is restricted by community / funding and experience. It’s frustrating .
Fingers crossed that they were able to remove the wall of the cyst - can be tricky when it is acutely inflamed ….
Hope they are packing this every 48 hours. My patients are struggling to persuade community nurses not to leave it longer a specially over weekends / BH etc. if the outside dressings are wet it needs changing as the aquaculture wick can no longer draw fluid away from the base of the wound.

olympicsrock · 15/04/2022 16:11

Agree with Frazzled advice , once it becomes manageable/ more superficial / smaller, it is good to remove the dressing then
have a shower using water to wash out the cavity before you apply a new dressing. Makes you feel human to be able to shower again.