Scar

[Elsiedog]

This may sound a really silly question but has anyone experienced their scar being very itchy and sometimes sore, especailly when driving? I had my surgery in March and would have thought this would have stopped by now. Thanks

 

[Seabush]

Soreness

Soreness

My mother had heart valve surgery two months ago. She does complain of scar soreness and itchiness in general.

Crystal

 

[JBriau]

I had heart surgery two years ago. My scar was itchy
and sometimes sore. Every now and then it still gets itchy
and a little sore.

Judy

 

[Lorraine]

Hi Richard,

I had my surgery in March too! My scar still bothers me. Not all the time but once in a while. It seems like since the weather has changed and the air is drier it itches more. I just put a moisturizer on it to help relieve some of the itching. It can drive you nuts sometimes. Hope this helped!

 

[hensylee]

Itching will eventually recede. It took mine about a yr. I still have scaly skin at the sternum AND leg scar (I had bypass and they took a vein out of my leg, so have 4 scars there). Had surgery 3/00

 

[Peter Easton]

Am waiting to see what happens with my AVR scar (keloid variety). One I have on my shoulder/upper arm from a skin cancer removal six or seven years ago is still a bit sensitive and itchy, though I've learned to live with it. But then the AVR scar is much larger, so this should be interesting.

Peter

 

[Christina]

I had two surgeries last year August. The first scar was neat as a pin. Looked like a long cat scratch.
Second surgery they put staples in to my horror, and I got a bad keloid scar. I had no idea what it was, and had never heard of keloids. Had never had surgery before, and had never talked to anyone that had a keloid scar.
My keloid scar is 9" long, and this scar was bothering me so badly last Janaury yet, that I went back to the surgeon thinking that some of the wires had gotten loose underneath, and that they were pricking me in my skin.
Getting up out of bed or a chair, and trying to stand up straight was terrible, and that really hurt for quite some time.
The surgeon said that it would take time for that scar to feel better, but that it will feel better and to just give it time.
He was right!
Today, the scar feels much better.
Doesn't look better, but I don't really care that much anymore about the scar. As Ben Smith told me at the Scottsdale reunion last March "it's our badge of honor". I liked that when I heard him say that. Thanks Ben!

Christina
Aortic Stenosis
AVR's 8/7/00 & 8/18/00
St.Jude's Mechanical
Coumadin 20mg a day

 

[maxximom]

9 weeks and scratching

9 weeks and scratching

Tomprrow will be 9 weeks post op..and yup!! I'm scratching..carefully of course..you should see me and my dog (a huge greyhound) when we both get the itches We are a pretty silly couple. I find that my scar is very sensitive at times. I also had staples and the incision line is pretty smooth..but the edges where the stapleswere are still puckery..but its only 9 weeks and I'm sure that it will improve. My surgeon took into account that as a female..I might like to wear some low cut dress or blouse and was nice enough to start the inscisionbetween my breasts and not up towards my throat...my cardio was very impressed when he saw it last week and told me that it was not usually done that way..I guess its the old "ask and you shall receive" thing..Hey!! I'm still vain at 70!!! My scar does pull sometimes after I have been sitting or lying down for a while and he must have wired me pretty tightly because I have never felt that shifing that many people feel..and sometimes it feels as if I have a tight rope arround my rib cage..considering..I've been pretty lucky..I just hope it all continues to improve
Joan

 

[Elsiedog]

Thanks everyone for all the replies, I like this bdage of honour idea!

 

[Mara]

I have been out of the loop for so long. I finally had a chance to come by and read and browse. I was going to post about this exact topic. My scar is really bugging me. 5 months post-op. Very itchy and sore at the top of my incision. Yuk. I have tried all kinds of creams and ointments to help. Any suggestions?
-Mara

 

[RobThatsMe]

Hi Mara,

I don't know if I had a good surgeon stitch me up, or if my old friends remedy was the reason that my scar healed so neatly.

Many of us compared scars at the reunion in Nashville this year, and several can tell you that my scar has indeed healed very well.

My old friend's remedy, which I used religously for 1 year was to rub coco butter on the scar every day. I bought it at Eckard's drug store. It came in a pushup tube.

Can't say for sure if it worked, but the scar has almost vanished.

Rob

AVR 3/23/00

 

[hensylee]

I used Vitamin E oil and my scar healed nicely, too. but it itched. Maybe Robthat'sme had the best idea.

 

[Peter Easton]

Just back from an appointment with my dermatologist, scheduled months ago as follow-up for the basal cell carcinoma that I had removed three years ago -- but it also allowed him to check the hefty Keloid scar from my early September AVR. Yup, he said, it's a beaut. The two remedies he suggested: (1) cortisone injections (demonstrated, he said, to work very well on some people, pretty well on others, and not much on still others); and (2) a silicone sheet sold over the counter and placed on the location to reduce the scar (not proved scientifically but used by an increasing number of people).

I ended up getting the injections (both for the AVR scar and the remaining basal cell one) and will see if I might not try the silicone sheet, too. The shots have to be taken about once a month. Sometimes, he said, two or three months will do; sometimes it takes a year or more.

To be continued!

Peter

 

[joy]

Hi guys, My scar doesn't itch, it just sort of pulls when I stretch it. My scar is actually healing nicely. It looks alot like a huge exclamation point, with three dots beside it. That pacemaker wire hurt BAD coming out! Well, good-luck, try coco butter, I've heard that's really good for scars. AND stretch marks!

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi everyone!
joey's scar itches too. he's seeing his dermo on dec 3rd about it. meanwhile, he tried the vitamin e, but that didn't seem to do anything. i used cocoa butter (the push up stick too) on my belly for both my pregnancies and lo and behold.... not a single stretch mark!!! there must be something to it.
either band aid or curad makes these little pads that are supposed to heal scarring, but we haven't tried that yet. wasn't there a product out called rejuvenese (sp?) specifically to make scars disappear or atleast minimize?
i'll let you know what the dermo says.... ooh...hope no shots!
be well all,
sylvia

 

[Peter Easton]

Coritsone shots that I had weren't bad and had few after effects. They're more like a series of pinpricks -- subdermal injections of small amounts of the stuff.

Peter

 

[Peter Easton]

Three weeks later or so, I may be kidding myself, but I do think I see some shrinkage in the scar after the cortisone shots. Have a second round in a couple of weeks from now. Get out those millimeter calipers!

Peter

 

[Chris37]

Yep, two months post op and it itches quite often. I'm told this will last for a while as does the soreness. I use a pillow to lie on when I sleep on my stomach at night and that helps to take away the discomfort.

 

[hensylee]

a title for a new song: "Pumpheads lose their spots" - eh, Janie?