C Section Wound not healing.

[Toots2412]

Hello everyone!

A long read here about my difficult C Section recovery. I’m looking for a kind word or reassurance from someone who’s been there.

I’ve had a right nightmare with my c section and I’ve plucked up the courage to finally search on here and was so discouraged at the fact most of what i saw was that the majority of people sailed through their recovery and were back to normal within 6-8 weeks. Nearly spat my tea out reading about one lucky lady who forgot her wound was even there after 2 weeks.

I’m 9 weeks post section and have had a rough time of it. The middle of it healed no bother and very quickly. The edges have not.

One end where the outside stitch was had gotten really gunky, the stitch wasn’t dissolving so they removed it. 2 weeks later the skin burst open. That’s now on the mend thank god.

My continuing issue is the opposite end. There’s been a teenie tiny hole since day 1. It’s the way they stitched this particular bit, the hole has been created by 2 overlapping bits of skin. I’ve had infection at about 4 weeks where I needed 2 antibiotics. Loads of swabs since which were clear.

Pretty much this whole time it’s been on and off a combo of bleeding, yellow or brown fluid, gunk, redness and pain.

There is always a smell coming from the fluid.
In fact when they took the dressing off my entire wound had this smell. It’s now confined to just the fluid that leaks out this wee hole. Within 24 hours of the antibiotics the smell goes away. I’ve been on so many antibiotics now the doctor spoke to a consultant at the hospital who said this is normal healing, I’m unlucky and I need to give it time, the antibiotics are just treating the smell which is weird to me? And to let it heal alone with no more intervention. I feel the door has closed in my face. My doctor pointed out I had called in 16 times about my wound making me feel like i was off my head.

As it stands I did have a swab done again 1 week ago, the fluid on the swab was brown and smelly but came back clear with no bugs which reassured me this just might be my body clearing things out and attempting to heal. This smell may just be the healing fluid my body produces and why the entire wound had the smell when my initial dressing came off?

This area as it stands is red and angry looking, very small amount of smelly gunk coming out.

Its not big, it’s about 1.5cm at the tail end of the wound, it’s not large at all but obviously having a red smelly sore bit on your wound isn’t ideal.

I don’t believe it’s anything horrific, I do think it’s very superficial but it’s getting me down and affecting my mental health now.

Anyone have a similar experience? I am very anxious so please no horror stories!

Hi I kind of proof read but think I have the jist of it.

I had DC2 at the end of April via a planned C Section. He was in NICU for 6 weeks so I was up and down every single at the hospital from 9-5. Because I wasn’t resting and didn’t get any opportunities to rest, I had a smell coming from where they stitched me up. I only realised when I had a check up from a midwife in MAU. Had to come back the week after when they took a swab, sent it off and surprise surprise I had an infection.

When I managed to get a mirror and look, I saw I had a small opening on the right hand side of my incision. I had gunk and puss coming out of it. I was also in agony and started to walk with a limp. I was given antibiotics for 7 days which helped but didn’t help that much as I was still back and forth between NICU. I called the GP who had a look and prescribed me with antibiotics again. By this time DS was out of NICU so I was able to rest.

It healed up nicely and you’d never know I had an opening there. Have you been given any antibiotics? Sorry I may have missed that if you mentioned it. Just keep on wiping it dry and trying to air it out as much as you can. It’ll get better soon but you have to care for yourself as much as possible

I could've written this , it was my exact experience 2 years ago.

So (not ideal in this current climate I know but I was desperate) I started showering gently over the wound morning and night whilst using a baby sponge (the softest one) and very very gently cleaning it with Hibbiscrub lathered. I'd then use the hair dryer on a cool setting to dry the area and then cover it with savlon.

I was on antibiotics (I think my 3rd dose) at this point. About 2 weeks in of this routine and I was completely healed and felt like a new woman. If I have another c section I will buy hibbiscrub in preparation.

Thanks for taking the time!

I have had many courses of antibiotics and the smell goes away when im on them, the last course though it came back before I finished them.

took another swab when I was off the antibiotics and the smelly fluid came back clear of infection.

They are telling me this is normal healing and I can’t really get my head around that smelly fluid isn’t infection especially when it did go away with Metronidazole - I’ve had 3 courses of it now and they are saying no more.

Thank you so much for getting back to me, felt teary having someone say they had a similar time of it!

Cant get Hibbiscrub at any pharmacy near me, not sure if there is a distribution problem but my pharmacy’s say they can’t get it. I was given Prontosan wound wash and the gel version from the hospital, it’s what they use. I clean it daily with this.

At my wits end but it’s nice to speak to someone who has had a similar issue!

i had something similar quite a few years ago. I regret letting it go on for months it just never healed & I had regular infections. Both ends of scar did not close and when I asked GP about whether both ends could be restricted she said hospital woukd likely want to open the whole wound up and do the whole wound again which terrified me & on reflection don’t know if that would have been necessary. I use to have the wound dressed twice a week by nurse in GP’s who took pitty on me did some research for me as I could not use normal dressing as I’m allergic to the glue and she got me to buy some specfic dressings but I can’t remember what they are but I seem to recall they had some gold in them! I’ve done a quick google and can’t find, once I started using them it healed in about 3 weeks. I still have raised ends on the scar but it doesn’t bother me. If I can remember what the dressings are I’ll PM you.

Re-stitched that should say not restricted!

Thanks for your message!

Could it have been silver dressings? Out of desperation I ordered both silver dressings and inodine patches to try one at a time. Not sure which one is more effective

I’ve already asked if that was a possibility and tbh I asked if they could restitch the end and they said absolutely not. Unless the wound was degrading and severely open on a large portion of the wound they won’t be doing anything further

Mine took about 14 weeks on one end :(

looking back I wish I had rested more and ate better and drank more water…I’m wondering for me personally if I had eaten less sugar if that might have helped a tiny bit (I’ve been told I probably have insulin resistance and just wondering if a more combined approach would have helped me). I’ve got loads of scar tissue under the skin and went for an ultrasound to check the internal stitches. No stitch granulonam but loads of scarring. I am still doing lots of massage now it’s closed and the tightness and pain has eased up one year on. Hope you are all ok. It’s horrible when it takes so long to heal. I had mine dressed a lot. I think the manuka honey dressings helped me in the end (no infection here though). X

Yes it could have been silver dressings. Could you perhaps ask to see nurse at GP practice if you have one? I was muddling through trying to manage the wound, it was my health visitor that suggested seeing the nurse. She was fantastic for me. Had several GP appointments a long the way only when I saw nurse did I get some help that worked

I've had two sections and each time they got a bit open or smelly I wiped them with distilled witch hazel on cotton pads, 4-5 times a day. Cleared up in a day or two.

Thank you little bear!

14 weeks, that’s so long but makes me feel a little better that my timescale is not abnormal.

Ive only just started to have mine dressed again, I was told for so long to leave it undressed but I have a pouch so it doesn’t get the air, this particular area is where it’s tucked in the most so it’s maybe best to stay dressed for now.

where did you get the honey dressings from?

Colloidal silver spray is excellent for anything gunky like this.

I have the silver dressings that arrived today so will give it a try.

Yes my GP’s surgery is inside a community health building so there’s 3 different practices along with a treatment room which is for blood tests, wound management etc.

I haven’t found the treatment room helpful, I was there yesterday and the nurse looked at it from 6 feet away, said there was no smell despite standing above me and wearing a mask. She gave it a good hard cleaning and looked surprised that I found it painful despite it being a red angry mess. I’ve to go to her once a week till it’s healed but she’s putting a bog standard small thin dressing on. It’s one step up from a plaster you get at boots. This is what made me turn into google and I bought both silver and inodine dressings.

Interesting! Thank you, I am willing to give it a go. Im in the U.K. lots of brands on Amazon, any particular brand you would recommend?

Air it out and hair drier on a gentle setting. I hair dried mine several times a day!

Ask your GP for a PICO dressing and don't let them fob you off without giving you one!

Higher Nature which is a very reputable brand.

www.highernature.com/healthy-body/immune-health/colloidal-silver-spray

Might be on Amazon too.

Order hibbiscrub on Amazon , that's where I got mine. You really won't regret it.

It gets better, reading your post brought me back to how utterly desperate I felt to just feel normal.

Hello, I didn’t have any issues with the scar opening up or leaking fluid. It was described as healing well and normal, and this is the same message I got whenever I went back to the DR worried about the pain.

It certainly wasn’t a 6 week recovery. I would say it wasn’t until at least 9 months until I felt normal again. Nearly 2 years on i still get twinges when my period comes on. I likewise used to search a lot for similar experiences most with references to a 6 week recovery period as you say, which was just totally unrelatable. I can only presume people just aren’t talking about it

I hope your experience improves - at least you don’t have to do the heavy lifting related jobs for a little longer (online food shops were a bit of a life saver). Do keep in mind you’ve had major surgery and some bodies just take a bit longer.

Mine was consistently gunky. Weirdly the stitch thing hadn’t dissolved so she removed them and dusted the wound with something. It got better very very slowly over many many months and then was itchy for about a year. Totally fine now but not the tidiest looking scar

Hi! I’m wondering if you could update how you got on with this? I am in the exact same situation as you right now but my small hole is in the center of my incision rather then the end. It’s also affecting my mental health and have been to the GP several times but my latest swab said no infection.
did yours heal in the end? Did you do anything to help and how long did it take?
sorry for all the questions I just don’t know anyone else in this situation, everyone else’s incision that I’ve spoke to healed just fine 😔

Hello!

I had to create a new account, I'm the original poster.

This was a long time for me now, my daughter is 3 and a half!

It took probably about 6-8 months for me to be completely healed. My scar is almost invisible now which actually makes me a bit sad!

For some of us it can take much longer to heal and I wish my doctors told me this at the start. If there is no infection that is really reassuring. Your body is doing what it needs to do, I had infections and even when I didn't and swabs were clear it would leak, sometimes It would bleed and it would sometimes be smelly months later. This is just the fluid your body makes when it's healing a bit like if you get a cut and it seeps a bit when it's healing.

I wish I could give you a hug I know how awful it is and it affected my mental health so badly I barely remember the first few months of my daughter's life because it consumed me. I promise you it will get better. I didn't really do anything to speed it up. I would go to the nurse at my GP who would clean it and put an iodine dressing on but honestly I don't think it helped and it was more my GP trying to get me off his case calling every week. I had a bit of an overhang so I would lay down with nothing over it to help it get some air around it. It would have healed regardless of all that though.