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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask about your cesarean [and other gynae op] scars

53 replies

Cronesquerness · 23/08/2018 09:48

I had one of my ovaries removed years ago, the incision was made across my body above pubic hair, [bikini line?] After healing I have what can only be called an 'overhang'! I've lost, gained and lost weight and the overhang is always there. What are yours like? Is this usual or have we all been sewn back together like this?

OP posts:

Ninoo25 · 23/08/2018 10:54

I have it too. Mine is massive as my first child was stuck so they cut me very wide, no matter how much weight I lose It looks awful and I find it very upsetting. I can’t even conceal it with control underwear, as all it seems to do is flatten everywhere else apart from the overhang, making it actually more obvious! I believe the only way to get rid of it is to have a tummy tuck

usernotfound0000 · 23/08/2018 10:55

My c-section scar isn't too bad. I had to get quite slim for it not to overhang. However, pregnant again and I fear after a second section, it will be tougher to lose.

TriggeredByHangingBaskets · 23/08/2018 10:57

I've had 2 elective sections and don't have an overhang. I gained around 3 stone each time I was pregnant which I've lost now. My 2nd section scar does look different to the 1st as I think they stitched it tighter at one end so the skin sort of pulls in if that makes sense?

Pigletthedog · 23/08/2018 11:02

Ugh I have this shelf from my c-section in February . The rest of me is pretty much bank to normal, if a little soft (not envy) I thought it might go but reading your posts I guess not! It goes if I hoik my belly skin up but then my belly button is way too high

Roomba · 23/08/2018 11:04

I wouldn;t quuite say I had an overhang as such, but I do have a sort of ridge where you can feel the scar tissue (I assume) under the skin above my scar(s). So it isn;t completely flat and never will be, but it is pretty well hidden in my pubes. I am too skinny atm but I don't think it looked any bigger when I weighed more.

After my first section, the scar was awful - I developed a huge haematoma around the incision (picture a giant blood blister that covered the wound and a good few inches around it - ouch!!!). It was very lumpy and red but definitely settled down and looked so much better after a couple of years. The second scar is in the same place but slightly longer at one side - you can barely see it at all! I had one of those long wire stitches with beads on the end first time (It had to come out early as it was too tight with the swelling/haematoma). Second time I was 'superglued' and it healed incredibly well in comparison!

fruityb · 23/08/2018 11:09

Mine is about an inch above my pubes (how charming a word that is) and I have an overhang. It’s almost like when I was stitched they gathered that bit tighter than the rest and so the skin above is always going to hang a little. It doesn’t hang down but it certainly sticks out. If I suck my belly in you can see my ribs but my belly remains - it’s like it’s disconnected from having the hulk that was my son!

Ah well - it is what it is. I’m stretchmarked but they faded massively, I have diastasis recti and spare skin. But I also have a beautiful son and I can just tuck my belly in where needed!

TomHardysNextWife · 23/08/2018 11:12

I've had 2 c sections. 1st one was fine, small scar and no visible overhang. 2nd one was fecking horrendous - there was so much scar tissue attached to 1st scar, they had to go about 6 inches long and it's all thick and gnarly now - and even though my youngest is now 20, I get terrible discomfort from coughing etc. As for the overhang that one left, it's horrid and even though I've lost 4 stone now, it's just as bad .

GerdaLovesLili · 23/08/2018 11:14

I have an over-hang, It's horrible: If I lose weight then it's like an apron of loose skin and I need to make sure that I don't get fungal infections under it; if I gain weight I look 9 months pregnant. I hate it and it's disgusting. I wish I could afford to do something about it, but I can't.

It looks so awful and I feel so bad about it that I won't reveal my body even to have sex. Ugh.

Original poster

Cronesquerness · 23/08/2018 11:25

I used to detest mine but I've accepted that it's not going to go unless it gets cut off so I have accepted my overhang. I sometimes feel self-conscious about it but not often and with new partners I have felt the need to explain it as I thought it was ugly and unusual. It's good to hear that other women have this and also dreadful to hear that other women have this as it begs the question 'why sew us back together in such a haphazard way?'

OP posts:

Chocolatecoffeeaddict · 23/08/2018 11:40

OP, I've felt the need to explain mine to new partners too. But no one has really paid it a blind bit of notice. Most people have normal looking bodies and imperfections, so I've accepted mine now too.

TittyGolightly · 23/08/2018 11:40

Intermittent fasting causes something called autophagy which allows your skin to reduce in size when losing weight. Might be worth a look?

BusterGonad · 23/08/2018 14:23

Mine is low down in my pubic area too, I had a consultant do mine as my baby was premature and could've died, maybe that's why mine doesn't 'hang'?

mrsnoodle55 · 23/08/2018 23:22

I’ve had 3 sections; the scars from the first 2 were hardly visible. Faint white lines. No overhang. Admittedly I did lose more weight after those.

Peeling back the overhang from this last one shows me a much wider scar and an obvious indentation on 1 side, probably where they started/tied the incision. The problem is 1) I haven’t made much effort to lose weight this time. It’s less obvious if I lose a few pounds and 2) I actually done care anymore ‘cos I’m too knackered. And that is bad.

glueandstick · 23/08/2018 23:32

Mine is horrific. And numb from mid stomach to top of thigh. Coughing hurts. Laughing hurts. Sneezing hurts.

Good job the baby was cute ;)

AndBabyMakes3 · 23/08/2018 23:52

I dont have an overhang either but mine is just below the hairline so maybe that helps.

@FuckyDuzz is the area hot to touch as well as lumpy? You might have a subdermal hemotoma (sp?), a collection of blood between the layers of skin/womb lining. I had the same and it got infected (hence the redness and heat) so I needed 2 courses of antibiotics to clear it. 6 months on and my scar is pink not red, but at the time it was very red and lumpy and hot to touch. Hope this isn't the case with you but maybe get it checked out just in case?

SlothSlothSloth · 23/08/2018 23:59

It's good to hear that other women have this and also dreadful to hear that other women have this as it begs the question 'why sew us back together in such a haphazard way?

That’s what I’m wondering reading these replies. It seems there’s a way to stitch that doesn’t result in this, so why don’t they do it? Why do they care so little? It must be well known that this can cause great distress, surely.

Version2point0 · 24/08/2018 00:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

H00T3R · 24/08/2018 00:16

My c section scar is about 6" long and is a very neat little silver line. My overhang is massive, like a shelf that hangs upside down. It is ugly but I try not to let it bother me. The worst thing about it is that in hot weather it gets a bit sore and itchy.

Ihaventgottimeforthis · 24/08/2018 00:17

I too have the Matron’s Apron, as my friend kindly informed me it was called as I was recovering from my emergency op!

Bear2014 · 24/08/2018 00:25

I have a bit of an overhang after my second CS a year ago. The first scar was very small and neat, the only thing being numbness on the skin across my belly. This time, DS was 11lb so I have stretch marks and some baggy skin, plus the scar is a lot bigger. I'm hoping things will improve when I lose weight but it won't ever look good again I don't think.

BigBlueBubble · 24/08/2018 00:32

I don’t know if I have an overhang? The scar is below the hair line and is nice and flat above and below. Then my tummy hangs over my bikini line crease which is about an inch above my scar. So I don’t think that’s an overhang over the scar, it’s more like a saggy belly that I’d have had even if I gave birth naturally?

It was six months ago and my belly is still loose like jelly - I don’t know how long that’s supposed to take to firm back up, or if it ever will? I cry about it most days. Also my lower tummy still feels bruised and numb and I’m worried it’ll hurt forever. They really don’t do a good job of telling us what to expect. I certainly didn’t expect permanent pain or numbness.

ThistleAmore · 24/08/2018 00:39

I have a horrific overhang as a result of an asymmetrical oopherectomy/salpingectomy. I've also got numbeness in my abdomen around and near the scar.

I am very fit, play a demanding team sport and train hard on the pitch and the gym. The rest of my body is in great nick, but even though I'm not even 40, I've been left with this debilitating scar (and it IS ugly). The only thing that would fix it would be further surgery.

While obviously I'm pleased to have been rid of the cause (massive ovarian cysts), I'm angry that my body has been damaged this way and everybody just shrugs in an 'oh well, learn to live with it' sort of a way.

I can't help but feel that if I was male, it would be different.

Iwantaunicorn · 24/08/2018 00:41

I have a massive overhang from my c section with twins. The scar is quite neat and tidy, but to see it I have to pick the overhang up. I absolutely hate it, and had no idea it would happen until it did. My scar also gets itchy, and I have numbness all down the right hand side of my right thigh. I don’t think it will ever go back to normal without surgery.

ThistleAmore · 24/08/2018 00:42

In addition to my previous post - I've never been pregnant or given birth and have always been a healthy weight, so that kind of adds insult to injury. My stomach was previously flat.

Cardiganandcuppa · 24/08/2018 00:42

I’ve had two sections and I’ve got an overhang, scar just above my public hairline.

The doctor I had to BEG to sign off the second section was also the one who did the operation and my second scar is crap- uneven and with thick previous scar tissue in areas and then paper thin stretched skin in others. It was so weak it opened up in several places post part in and I had to have it packed. It should all have been cut out at the birth and resewn on good tissue but I honestly think he thought I deserved what I got, he was so unpleasant when I asked for the section in the first place.

Dickhead.

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