C-section scar still uncomfortable 15 months after op - normal?

[Sallypuss]

Had DD in November 2008 by emergency c-section. Not in huge amounts of discomfort at the time and the scar has healed well but am left with a raised scar which is dark red in colour and is uncomfortable (rather than sore) when my underwear rubs against it. Bit uncomfortable during sex too if DH pulls the skin or similar.

Is this normal 15 months after the op?

i had emcs in april 09 and have to say my scar is nothing like that. it's rather neat and tidy although it freaked me out totally at the time sorry probably not what you wanted to hear.

what did gp say when you had the 8week check (or whenever it was)?

TBH i'd ask gp next time i was there - or get an appointment if its really bugging you. or maybe ask HV -i'm assuming they don't stop caring once baby hits 1 year.

Thanks MrsF. At 6-8 week check it was pronounced fine. For some reason I had a wire inserted to knit the incision together rather than stitches and I'm wondering if this might be why the scar is raised rather than flat and hence why it's rubbing on my clothes etc. My instinct is telling me it's not quite right but would be interested to hear about others' experiences so shamelessly bumping...

PS. IME the HVs haven't cared much all the way through so not sure any different after the first year

Ah I never had a wire just stitches. Maybe that's the reason yours is raised. Still I'd ask someone if it was me! I'm a fuss pot!

Not normal IME. My scar never gave me any trouble like this.

I gad my emcs at the end of dec 2009 and my scar had more or less disapeared now. It never hurt at all after the first week and I felt completly back to normal after 10 days or so. I had the running stitch thing with fishing wire stuff.

I my sil had problems with hers but they were resolved long before 6months afterwards and she's pg agsin and it's fine. It's definatly not normal to be having problems almost a year and a half later

I had my emcs in November 2008 too and my scar is raised and definitely painful when underwear elastic rubs against it. Still numb just above it too. Might be normal for some and not for others...

If your scar is raised and red then you could have some keloid scarring. There's nothing you can do to prevent this - some people are prone to it and some aren't; it's all down to how your body creates scar tissue. Some people scar this way and other's don't. Similar I suppose to some people getting stretch marks and others not.

You can improve the condition of scarring through massage. Get some oil (I use Bio Oil but you can use anything - olive oil or veg oil from your kitchen if you can't be faffed to buy anything specific) and rub massage your scar with it after every bath/shower. You want to use quite a lot of pressure - really push your fingers along the scar line (as if you're squeezing something out of a tube) although it might take you a while to build up to this if your scar feels a bit tender. If you do it every day then you'll soon get used to it. You can even dry massage when it starts to soften up a bit - feels a bit strange but is even better for softening scar tissue as there's more resistance against the skin without the oil.

I had a horrible haematoma behind my scar so had very tough scar tissue (a big, thick ridge behind). I had cortisone injections to try and break it down which helped a bit (you could ask your GP to refer you for these if you've got pulling and pain) as well as ultrasound treatment (it really was this bad). I had the 'pulling/tearing' sensation too, which was basically the adhesions underneath pulling against my scar, which felt pretty grisly and was quite problematic when I ran (I run a lot) but went away after about a month of massaging.

Hope this helps. Sorry it's a bit rushed but my children are bashing lumps out of one another and I need to stage and intervention!

Thanks kits that helps me quite a bit! I'm pg with #2 and I had the tearing sensation when I ran - felt like I was coming undone. Since getting pg I've felt pulling that's been painful, I'll definitely try the scar massage though

My scar was the same after DD1, raised, red and thick. Took ages to fade and now 4 years on it is still a thick line but has faded loads and not so raised anymore. It was tender for months like you describe if my pants rubbed against it.
I was told it was a keloid scar. It only started to fade 2 years after the section!

Thanks for the reassurance. Bio oil it is then (I started using it as soon as I could after the op but lapsed after the first bottle! back to it then...)