To ask about your Cesarean scar(s) and stomach?

[Spice17]

Had an EMCS 8 weeks ago and am not happy with the state of my scar/stomach

Have an unsightly overhang that covers the scar it meaning it gets hot, sore and itchy and I constantly feel it's infected - or will become infected. It still looks very red and raised in places.

Can anyone tell me from personal experience when it will get better? I bathe it twice a day with salt water but I feel that if I didn't it would be infected in a day.

Also, will the overhang go down? It makes my stomach look awful - like one of those pouches above my fanjo and no amount of breathing in would make it look any better.

In the grand scheme of things it's not the end of the world and I have a beautiful daughter who is the love of my life but I don't want to have this forever.

Feel like I can never go swimming again as the 'pouch' is very visable. At least when it was just fat I could try to lose it! :)

When you are ready to exercise again, a Pilates class should really help. I lost all the weight after my first section but after almost 2 years my stomach was still round and sticking out over the scar. I'd been doing sit ups & crunches and later I found out that had made it worse rather than better.

I had some sessions with a personal trainer who knew a lot about post natal exercise & she made me do the most slow Pilates exercises for at least 6 weeks before I was allowed to do anything more. I didn't believe that this would help at first - but it really did & I ended up with a flat stomach again. I'd have got it a lot sooner if I'd done Pilates earlier on though.

Sorry... I still have the overhang 8 yes post c section! It's not the end of the world.... Never going to be able to wear a bikini or a tight dress.... But got 2 gorgeous children.
I used to use a hair dryer to dry the scar in the early days. Even now it is a bit prone to little pockets of infection along the scar line especially in the summer.
Congrats on your newbie... It will heal much more than it has done now.

Mine was numb, itchy and red for a couple of months, now it's invisible except for a tiny silver line if you know where to look and have good eyesight. No overhang, don't know what would help for that. Suppose the outcome depends on the surgeons skill.

Sorry - I still have an overhang, and my scar is wonky (thanks surgeon!) and still red and a bit itchy now and then - twins are now 13 months old. Have been doing abs work since 12 weeks post-birth with personal trainer, Pilates classes, DVDs etc but its still there.
I used to have a flat stomach and nice abs. Ah well, I have my babies instead!

I can't really add much to the above from a medical perspective, agree its early days and although the numbness might remain, the itchiness and scarring will improve somewhat.

But, on the appearance thing - be kind to yourself, you've just had a baby, in a potentially traumatic way. It takes time to recover but the signs that remain aren't ugly, they're beautiful in a different way. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true.

Can't advise on when the overhang will go,mine was there before cs! I did have an infection & was in hospital for a week a week after having ds. Washing with nothing fragranced,salt in bath & using hair dryer helped once my dressings were off. This was a few months & I had to have district nurse out to dress it daily (at first,this reduced over the weeks).
I still occasionally get some real itchiness,ds is 17 months.

5 years on and the overhang goes. Mine is slightly there but I'm only after having another baby 2 months ago so it's just that. It will be numb in areas for a good while. Had also faded to silver but being pregnant has made the scar more visible again.

The numbness also freaked me out, but feeling did return.

Hi, I am 17 weeks post EMCS and had the same issues. For the scar, careful washing, pat dry and hair dryer. If the scar is where your pants elastic sits, get new pants (bigger cotton granny pants are best). If the scar is infected (nine was at the ends) then your GP might prescribe a short blast of antibiotics to clear (fine with BF). My GP also have me some sterile dressing pads which did work.

Re the overhang. Mine is loads better but not 100% gone - it is no longer hanging, more bulging a bit. Losing all the baby weight helped loads (did this through healthy eating and taking lots if walks with the pushchair). I'm planning to try plates soon. Numbness is perfectly normal. HTH.

Good luck OP!

Plates = Pilates, oops

Talc isn't great as it can go slimy - instead you might try and get hold of some starch-based "dusting powder" - probably not the glittery smelly stuff you find in Lush - but that's the consistency you're after anyway.

A few drops of tea tree oil in the bath will help prevent infection whilst it's still all healing.

I've had 3 CS. Your stomach muscles are damaged in the process, it takes time for those to heal and get back the tone, thats why you have a little bit of a flabby tum. It'll go with gentle exercise once you get back to normal.

I had an EMCS, the cut went from about 5 cm from one hip to almost right up to the other hip and I had an overhang of about 1-2cm over all of that, except for the few cm near my hip. 2 years later its all vanished pretty much completely. 8 weeks is really early, I still had bruising and scabs at 8 weeks but it will gradually get better. Someone's said it earlier on, Pilates is amazing at dealing with the overhang. I also used BioOil on the scar once it had healed and now I've only got thin silvery line to show for my adventures.

PLEASE DON'T USE A HAIRDRYER on your scar - you're blowing all the dust and crap that builds up in your hairdryer into a wound and will massively increase the chances of it getting infected. It douses my head in when healthcare professionals recommend this. If in doubt, repeat to a wound care nurse and watch her go grey and then red in the face.
Step away from the hairdryers...

Keeping the scar dry will help stop the itch and any infection. Agree re drying with a hair dryer but use a really cool setting! Sounds wierd but I put a panty liner against it to stop the overhanging skin rubbing against itself and that really helps to keep it dry too. Try to resist the urge to poke and prod (although if you were a scab picker like me as a child may be difficult).

Numbness is because of cutting through nerves and I was told not all will reattach no matter how well you heal. I still have a patch of numbness from my first CS 5 years ago but rarely notice it. Second CS was 8 weeks ago and waiting to see whether it changes.

I wouldn't use talc. If it is hot and itchy you might need to use Canesten cream as it could be thrush which is really common just under 'aprons.' I would have a chat with a nurse at your clinic just to double check. Tea tree is a good idea.

I had a CS nearly 5 years ago and you can hardly see it now. Since losing weight, the overhang has gone as well.

I'm not sure how sensible it is to put any kind of powder on a still-healing scar so please check with your HV or GP first, but Lush do a tea tree powder here.

As others have mentioned a CS is actually quite a big deal so it's not surprising it takes a while to heal; 8 weeks really isn't a long time. BUT I still think you need to talk to a professional as you're clearly concerned. They won't mind you asking at all.