c section wound won't heal, any hints?

[LondonKiwiMum]

hi, i'm new so sorry if i've missed a similar thread.

4 weeks post section, a small part of the wound is still open. i'm now on my 3rd round of antibiotics. still hurts internally too a bit.

i think we're at the limits of what antibiotics can do. one midwife is saying to get it reswabbed and take yet more antibiotics, but i'm just getting tired of making newborn ds's tummy upset, thrush etc.

are there are other practical steps i could be taking? midwives just say leave it alone, no dressing or anything. it is still kind of oozing but not very much, more just looks a little open and is always wet looking....

i'm fine in myself, but it is annoying it won't heal.

Good tip if you're not doing this already is to have baths with tea tree oil but add a cup of milk too - helps disperse the oil. Tea tree is anti bacterial. Have one or 2 baths a day if you can manage it - even just a quick dip! Good luck, my wounds both times took a bit of healing but thankfully 9 months on from dc2's birth looking fairly neat.r Good luck oh also try probiotoc yoghurt every day when on antibiotics, should stop tummy upsets/thrush (tho not in baby unfortunately!)

Sorry you are having a bad experience. Had 2 c-sections myself and it isn't a walk in the park is it? 4 weeks seems like early days - I guess all you can do is follow the advice, take the antibiotics and try and look after yourself as much as possible - good healthy food. I'm sure someone will be along in a minute who can offer some good advice...

Sorry zoonose, wasn't implying your advice wasn't good - it wasn't there when i wrote -x-posted!

thanks i will try the tea tree oil baths and see if i can clear it up. how much oil should i put in? bit of a dim question i know, sorry.

c section recovery definitely is tougher (and my first birth featured a massive epistimony (sp?) and 3 hospital acquired infections - i have all the luck :)

Did you have desolving stitches, some people dont disolve them very well especially if one are of the scr is tight, It might be worth asking your GP to see if he can still see any stitch and remove it. It finally fixed me.

My scar did not heal until I had the correct antibiotics. It finally opened up so they could do a swab and only then started to heal.

Sorry, but I would go with another swab option. I know how awful taking lots of antibiotics actually is, I had to pump and dump my milk as ds was so unhappy with the one they kept prescribing for me that didn't work.

Do hope it gets better soon.

Cup of salt in the bath. :)

i confess my desire not to get reswabbed is mostly because i am really trying to avoid another repeat visit to my totally useless gp with the kids in tow.

the results last time took 2 weeks, which meant i had finished a course of the wrong antibiotics before i got the results. actually, they had the results for a week but just failed to check them or tell me what they were. i had been calling to get them but they refused to tell me what they were over the phone.

i really hate my surgery...

thanks for the advice though, i will try the bath and i will look into switching gps and see if someone else is not as rubbish.

I'd second the "stitch-left-behind" post, I also had dissolving stitches and had an open wound and infection 4 weeks after delivery, it was only when the stitch came out (because my godmother is a district nurse and looked at the wound and could see it!) that it healed up. If your GP is useless could you maybe ask to see the practice nurse and get her to have a look? My godmother said that's the most common reason for wounds not closing.

sounds like you need it resutured. I had this after my emergency section.

I ended up taking 5 lots of antibiotics before my second CS wound healed up. I went to the GPs endless times. I went one time and said 'it's not right' and was fobbed off. 3 days later puss was oozing out and it was fiery red and hot so I was prescribed some generic antibiotics. I was swabbed and 5 days later they called me to say I needed different antibiotics - the lab report specified which ones and the GP had to check which were BF compatible. I would complain about your surgery TBH and definitely swap if that is feasible. 2 weeks to get swab results is not good even at this time of year.
I didn't try it but I have read on here that blow drying your wound is also worth a go, after your salt bath or tea tree oil bath that is.

I'd second hair-drying your wound (not hot tho!). I had infection, anti-biotics and it hurt for ages, but after each bath/shower ALWAYS make sure the wound is as dry as possible, and the hair-dryer is the best solution.
Good luck, hope it clears up soon x

oh god, 5 lots of antibiotics! i could see that happening here. i have started blow drying my wound - midwife said not to but that is how i managed to get my cuts from the first delivery to heal on the advice of a french doctor.

interesting re the stitch though, not at the infection site but further along there are actually two loops of stitch material poking through the wound. all the gps and midwives have no idea why it is there, it looks like an oversight. i wonder if i can persuade gp to remove them? also will see about getting the practice nurse to have a look.

thanks for all the great advice.

I know lots of people advise using a hairdryer to dry the wound (including one of my midwives) but my consultant practically frothed at the mouth when I shared my plans to blowdry my caesar scar dry. He basically said that if you consider all the old fluff, lint and 'hair dust' in the hairdryer filter you could technically be blowing that into the wound - a pretty unappealing thought.

His rationale made sense. He advised me to blot it dry very carefully with a clean towel or piece of kitchen paper (absorbant) and also get the air to it for as much as possible during the day. Difficult with a newborn as there is so much to do but even half an hour here and there.

I bathed mine a few times every day with cotton wool balls dipped in warm salt water to which I'd added three or four drops of tea tree oil. I used a fresh ball of cotton wool each time I wiped/blotted the scar. Tea tree in the bath (six or seven drops, swished around vigorously so it disperses) and a couple of handfuls of salt also help. I'd also get another swab. The antibiotics are a bore but an infection will just run you down and take a long time to heal up. Get hold of some probiotic sachets so that you replace your healthy gut bacteria and minimise the risk of thrush.

Hope it clears up soon. C sections are hard bloody work!

I had this and it tooks weeks to heal completely. There was a small section that didn't seem to want to seal together and I was told it was because the surgeon hadn't pulled enough cut skin together. There is not much you can do about it TBH. It is shodding stitching on their part.

They kept on giving me swabs but there was no infection there even though it was oozy and sore. The best advice I got was to keep it clean and dry and to allow the air to get to it as much as possible. I stopped taking the anti-biotics as I didn't see the need for them with no infection. It did heal eventually. Don't worry yours will too.

I had this too, probably about 12 weeks to heal and countless courses of antibiotics. Then A homeopath I know gave me a calendula solution to dab on the wound, and it healed within a week or so. Sorry, I can't remember the specifics of what the solution was, but if you have a good herbalist near you, they might be able to help?

Might be worth asking your GP if you can get a referral to the district nurses to have the wound assessed. I had abdominal surgery when 20 weeks pregnant and the wound took 10 weeks to heal. The district nurses were able to use dressings that kept the wound properly dry and it healed much better, they also contacted the tissue viability team to make sure they were using the most uptodate products.

I had this too with a retained stitch. I would suggest you get the nurse to take a look for you, she might be able to snip them out. I was lucky, I went to the local walk-in centre on a Saturday cos I'd woke up very sore and hot. They had a nurse on duty that was trained as a MW! She took a lok, pulled the stitch, then swabbed it for me. 1 week of anti b's and it was completely closed. Hope you sort yours soon

Hi LondonKiwiMum. I worked as nurse on abdo surgery ward.Some wound advice...
Signs of infection are heat,redness,pus,swelling. If the wound is "open" a little it does not necessarily mean it is infected.
Keep having a shower,letting the water "wash" the wound.Pat dry,no sprays or talc etc.
Dissolving stitches are usually pale in colour,sutures to be removed tend to be dark if that helps.
Would definitely suggest you go to see the Treatment Room nurse. They tend to deal with wounds more than GPs.If still not satisfied ask to see a Tissue Viability Nurse.
And using a hair dryer is really not recommended,for the reasons already mentioned.
Hope it heals up soon. Woopsi.

Sorry,should have said it should heal up with time if no further infection occurs. And make sure you are eating a healthy diet,your body will need extra,especially if you are feeding little one too.

I had this too, it was the area that the drain had been in when I was in hospital and it never really healed, for weeks it was open and weeping HUGE amounts of fluid.

No amount of anti-biotics, swabs, or anything helped, then I saw a new Dr. and she cauterized it with a silver nitrate stick thing and I never had another problem with it, it healed straighgt away with no further problems.
Would highly recommend asking about it.