Bumps around chest scar

I'm 10 years post-op now.

For quite a while in the area around my scar right over my breastbone I have small red bumps. Is not elsewhere along the scar which runs about 7 inches long total - the area with the bumps is about an inch long (& the bumps extend about an inch around the scar).

They don't bother me, don't itch or anything like that but I'm just wondering what they are.

Could they be related to the wire that was used to hold my breastbone in place so it healed? I believe I was wired shut (???). Anyone else have this?

(the image photo below is kind of hard to make out)

that scar is really neat ...
https://www.valvereplacement.org/threads/9-weeks-picture-shirt-free.41432/post-889045

slipkid said:

I'm 10 years post-op now.

For quite a while in the area around my scar right over my breastbone I have small red bumps. Is not elsewhere along the scar which runs about 7 inches long total - the area with the bumps is about an inch long (& the bumps extend about an inch around the scar).

They don't bother me, don't itch or anything like that but I'm just wondering what they are.

Could they be related to the wire that was used to hold my breastbone in place so it healed? I believe I was wired shut (???). Anyone else have this?

(the image photo below is kind of hard to make out)

View attachment 890405

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Get your doctor to look at that, not normal after OHS.

carolinemc said:

Get your doctor to look at that, not normal after OHS.

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Several years ago I did. Was basically told "don't worry about it" but don't recall any explanations being given. Believe I have asked a couple times over the years...

I had a bump after my surgery at the very top of chest closure. It hurt then when I turned my head left or right or when I touched it. Surgeon said it was the wires. He offered to remove them which required one night stay at the hospital. I didn’t
Now, I don’t feel it unless I press on it, but there’s no pain. Also, I don’t see it either…it’s been covered by the extra weight I gained over the years!

slipkid said:

Several years ago I did. Was basically told "don't worry about it" but don't recall any explanations being given. Believe I have asked a couple times over the years...

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Maybe a trip to the dermatologist would help.

Although it has been seven months since my open heart surgery, the surgical scar continues to itch from time to time, is this normal?

Jeff Lebowski said:

Although it has been seven months since my open heart surgery, the surgical scar continues to itch from time to time, is this normal?

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My first surgery it was years (I was a kid). Subsequent surgeries were better, but it's still a little itchy from time to time

If you push on that area, can you feel what might be a wire underneath it? I had one sternal wire about 4 inches down from my throat that turned during the healing process and was poking me, causing sharp pain if anyone touched that section of my chest. I don't have a vertical scar and didn't have bumps like what you have, but I did have bruising. Upon further examination, there was another wire that had turned so they ended up removing them all, except a small piece that was attached to the bone. This was 5 years after surgery so they'd done their job.

Jeff Lebowski said:

Although it has been seven months since my open heart surgery, the surgical scar continues to itch from time to time, is this normal?

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Are you sure it's the scar, or could it be the damaged nerves? I'm 26 years from surgery and I still occasionally have itching that can't be scratched because it's actually "phantom itching" from the nerves. It's worse if I'm wearing a shirt with an embroidered design or other stitching in that area. I've learned to avoid it!

Lisa from LJ said:

Are you sure it's the scar, or could it be the damaged nerves?

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ı am not sure

If this were a poll I would check Rash-like Irritation.

First thought was irritation from clothing or jewelry. Is there an indentation / depression in that spot? Could even be some form of sensitivity caused from the process, initiation to healing, that left the skin more sensitive.

Depending on the clothing material, weather, diet, state of mind, stress, degree of rest, etc. sometimes my skin reflects it. This can be isolated to a small area, even a single sore.

It has been 3 years since my OHS and I do not anticipate things improving much at this point. I have intermittent red spots along the scar. I have a lot of hair follicles in the skin. Then of course a rib cage under that skin. 2 years later I received a pacemaker. It created a bulge yet has no artifacts aside from the cut, nothing like a rash or even a single red spot. In this regard the OHS scar is located where my skin has been more prone to irritation consequences of stress.

Most of your scar is much cleaner than any part of mine. That looks like irritation to me. Even a depressed rather than protruding area could react to conditions differently than another spot. It may be that perspiration concentrates in a depression there? Perhaps stimulated perspiration not necessarily an accumulation of perspiration.

Someone else mentioned itching. Mine itches intermittently 3 years post-op. It is the skin not deeper.