Pain on right side of sternum

[valerie415]

Hi! I am 3 weeks post op now and doing so well except for this one sharp pain I am having constantly now. It is in one particular spot, about an inch from near the top of the incision on the right side.

Just wondering what that would be. The incision itself doesn't hurt, it's just that one spot. Do you think it would be the sternal wires that causes the pain, but why just in that one particular spot?

I guess there's nothing that can be done, but I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced that type of thing and if it's normal or not?

Thanks for any input!

 

[ARGreenMN]

I noticed a sharp pain right in that area too, but mine was very short lived (only a few seconds at a time) and has only happened a handful of times. Not something that is there constantly. Better go get it checked out just to be safe.

 

[DebbyA]

I had one sort of like that, just one fairly sharp pain about an inch away from the scar. It finally went away, but I didn't miss it enough to notice its passing. It never concerned me enough to call or even remember to ask during an appointment.

 

[AgilityDog]

I had one like that which lasted for weeks, maybe a few months. The conclusion was it was either muscular/nerves healing or where they placed the spreaders while I was splayed open like a roast chicken. That and the back pain were the last to fade away. I think it's just related to the general abuse of surgery.
But certainly ask about it.

 

[Mentu]

Valerie, As AD just said, one of the very individual aspects of recovery is the healing process in the chest. As the tissues mend there can be all sorts of sensations caused by the nervous system recovering. Part of this can actually be in the brain and not the chest. The brain can have some difficulty interpreting signals from the damaged nerves. My incision was 8 1/2" long and was healed over by the end of the third week after the AVR. Starting at the end of week 3, my skin in a 9" circular area centered on my scar became hypersensitive. A cotton T-shirt could at times feel like sharkskin; the tips of my new chest hair could feel like barbed-wire. My family Doctor said that my brain was periodically interpreting all sensation from that area as pain stimuli but that it would fade as things got rewired. Over the next six weeks, it faded. There are a number of these little "undocumented features" which we don't anticipate that can plague us for awhile but fortunately most of them are temporary. However, I, also, would encourage you to speak with your Surgeon or your family Doctor to make sure that your pain is not being caused by some more immediate problem, especially, if it is persistent.

Larry

 

[valerie415]

Well, I'm 5 weeks post op now and the pains continue on the right side. I'm hoping it's just part of the normal healing process and that nothing is wrong in there. I think I'd better just all the dr. I was trying to hold out till July 27th when I have my post op appointment with him, but that's 2 weeks from now. They're just a little worrysome.