C section wound not healing - any tips?

[igggi]

Hello,
Had an elcs (my second) almoost 9 weeks ago. At fiest it seemed to heal well, seen by midwives for first two weeks and no problems. Four and a half weeks ago a nurse I was seeing for something else had a look at it and saw a 2cm opening in the middle. Since then I've been having it dressed, sometimes packed, and no improvement.
Has anyone experienced this and is there anything bar sticking dressings on that could be done? I've been told it needs to heal from the inside, and that it can't be restitched - but surely it's a long time to have an open wound?
It hurts very little but I feel very limited in what I can do - weight getting me down and I thought I'd be exercising by now.
Thanks for reading.

You could ask to be referred to a tissue viability nurse. They specialise in wound care. There needs to be a structured plan of action to heal this wound, not just different people doing something different everyday!
And you need to eat a really healthy diet, lots of protein. If you don't feel up to cooking or shopping yet, ask about getting High Protein Drinks from the pharmacy.
You should shower the wound daily/regularly, remove the dressing and "hose" out the hole. Pat dry with a clean towel, place a pad over it ready for the nurse to dress it.
Also, start to look at the wound everyday yourself. Assess it, is it getting worse? Bigger? Any discharge? How is the skin around it? Then let the nurses know.

Thanks guys. I've been fortunate in usually seeing the same nurse (practice nurse) but I don't know if she's dealt with this before.
The thought of putting water into it does freak me out! Probably not having the best diet either (any protein in maltesers?) so will try harder on that front. I find it hard that there's no time limit on it, I've been told it'll take a few weeks to heal, but it's already been 9 since the operation.
I don't understand the stitching thing - I was told the edges of skin are healed so can't be restitched, but if the edges are healed how will they ever join together??
Maybe I should stop thinking about it!

Oh no! I had similar issues. Rest, diet and keeping it clean and airing it helped. I would wash it with boiled and coed water and sterile wipes. Pat it dry, use a hair drier on cool setting to dry it/air it.
Wounds heal inside out / the deepest edge outward iyswim.
Make sure you lift nothing heavy. And let it air. It will get better. Book yourself for tissue mobilisation at a later stage to avoid lump formation.
Hth!

Don't know if this will help but apparently Zinc is proven to help healing. Could you take something like Redoxon Dual Action which has it in, just to be sure you have enough,

I had a drain in my 3rd section which left a hole in the middle and it took longer to heal, I used to bathe it with cooled boiled water, pat dry then lay down with it all exposed to let the air to it!

Thanks for all the advice, it's great to hear your stories. Interesting that many are saying to wash it and air it - the nurse is cleaning the incision, but has told me to keep it dry and covered - which would be fine if it worked!
Will go off to have some zinc and practise patience...

Just to add, hair dryers are not recommended to help drying. When was the last time any of us cleaned our hair dryer?You would be blowing all that dust,hair,debris,skin cells etc and lord knows what else right into an open wound-not good.
Research has shown that tap water is just as effective as sterile water in cleaning wounds. But as long as it is getting cleaned.
The wound will start "shrinking" as it heals. It will heal, but if it is taking much longer, I would ask for some other input.

I second woops. This sort of reopened wound has to heal from the bottom up, laying down new cells.Re stitched wounds usually just break down again. Tissue viability nurses see this sort of thing every day. Ask your practice nurse to get you to see one or at least some advice over the phone that your plan is sound. Sometimes honey or sugar is used!

Not had a c-section, but I had a second degree tear after a vaginal birth which took ages to heal. My midwife who visited me at home on day 10 gave me the best tip, which was to keep it clean (obviously), but also said I needed to "air" the stitches which I hadn't thought of! I did this twice a day and just lay down on the bed and this really helped it heal. I think airing the wound helps for any part of the body.

If you think it's getting infected, make sure you go back to the nurse.

Is it getting better at all, or just staying the same? If there is no.improvement, I think you should ask to be referred back to the maternity hospital, or at least get the GP to contact them for advise. If any other surgical wound hadn't healed in that time frame, I would contact the surgeon who did the surgery.

Hi, just updating in case anyone has a similar issue in the future - took till week 13 but I've finally had the all-clear from the nurse! One thing she did use on me was some manuka honey, it did seem to lead to an improvement. Thanks for all the advice.