Is my dog's surgical incision healing properly?
There is no redness/swelling/oozing from the incision site? No pain when you touch it? If the swelling is firm, non painful with none of the above associated with it, then it could be healing tissue - it often swells initially then remodels over time. It could also be a suture material reaction. Sometimes the tissue reacts a little to the suture material - nothing to worry about, again, it will sort itself out. I'd be inclined to ring the vet anyway and let them know. At 8 days the skin is nearly, but not quite healed - especially in an area of tension as you get over the hip area. It's not worth risking a wound breakdown and be forced to start from the beginning again! Good luck!
Is healing of a surgical incision a chemical or physical change?
Healing a surgical incision is both physical and chemical. It's actually a highly complex that involves many chemical reactions or physical reactions. Just to give you an example for both, some proteins found in the blood stick together (you could think of it as precipitation) to form a barrier on the cut. This is the physical change. To activate these particular proteins so they stick together, other proteins will change the chemical composition of these ones. For too complex process, you can't usually say that it's 100% chemical or 100% physical. Shredding cheese is physical. You break the "big cheese" into many small cheese bits.. (also, when it melts, it's also a physical change). Breaking a bone is physical, you make it smaller by a mechanical force. Healing a bone on the other hand, is a very complex process, and can't be described as 100% chemical not 100% physical.
Am I being paranoid about my surgical incision healing?
I had a cyst removed on my chest about 6 weeks ago and the doctor put me on antibiotic for a week. A week later, the removal the stitches were removed. Two weeks after the stitches were removed, the incision area did not look right to me. It looked like a fresh pink wound ( like when a scab falls off). I went to the doctor and he cauterized the area and said that a stitch had been left in and he removed it and put me on doxycycline antibiotic. The next week I saw two string looking things poking out and the area still looked like a fresh wound so I went back he said that the disolvable stitches did not disolve so he removed the two hanging out. So now this week, the area still still looks like a fresh wound and I am still on the antibiotic twice a day. I don't know if I am paranoid and that I should just take the doctors word that it will be fine or should I go see another doctor.
How long until surgical incisions stop hurting?
How long until surgical incisions stop hurting? Once they start to itch.
Can I put Neosporin on surgery incision?
No! You should not use anything on this incision, even if you have already had your sutures removed. You should wait until your butterfly strips fall off on their own, and once that has occurred, then you can start using some ointments. I do not think that you would need to use an antibiotic ointment though. Aquophor is great for helping to regain some moisture to the skin surrounding the area of incision, and I would also recommend some vitamin E oil as well to help minimize scarring. Just know that as long as those butterfly bandages are on, you should not apply anything, and again do not pull them off of mess with them. They are supposed to come loose on their own (as the adhesive is made to break down at a certain rate). Once it starts really peeling off and rolling up at the ends then you can go ahead and flick them on off.
While scratching an itchy skin near my healing surgical wound, I accidently scratched off a piece of scab. The scab came off very easily and did not hurt with pink scan under. I just cover it with bandage. Is this bad?
Pink skin in your scar is the color of blood stream in the regenerated skin, which is emphasized by the dilation of capillary vessels. These dilation of capillaries are induced by histamines excreted by mast cells, one of immune cells patrolling around the vessel. Histamines induce not only dilation of vessels but very weak pain, that is “itchy” sense you feel and will continue several months. You cannot get relief from them by scratching and in many cases you make tiny injuries to the healed scar.I think the covering bandage is very nice idea as far as you can avoid scratching the scar.
Is sunbathing good for healing surgical wounds?
Sunbathing is not good for wound healing.For the sunlight to reach the surgical wound, it would have to be uncovered. Wounds that are exposed to air are likely to dry out. Dry wounds heal worse than moist wounds.Sutures act as conduits from the surface to the deeper layers of the skin. Bacteria can track down the sutures and cause a wound infection. Surgical wounds need to be covered to keep them clean.Ultraviolet light decreases the function of the skin immune system. Some inflammation is necessary for proper wound healing. Also, ultraviolet light slows down the production of collagen by fibroblasts and induces collagen breakdown enzymes, the metalloproteinases.
I had acl reconstruction surgery and incision isn't healing well.?
You should call your doctor to rule out a possible infection of the incision. I had surgery almost 4 weeks ago, and the largest incision started draining a few days ago. My PT advised me to call my doctor, who immediately prescribed antibiotics and inspected it today. The incision has opened up, continues to drain fluid, and has lots of skin shedding around it. He told me that the plastic surgery suture under my skin was essentially being "rejected" and that the incision would eventually heal with a more noticeable scar than it otherwise would have. In the meantime, I need to continue the antibiotics, apply Neosporin, and be on the lookout for any signs of infection (pus, redness, fever, etc.)...
How long does a surgical wound take to heal/approximate?
With open heart surgery, the incision is carried down to the sternum. From there, the sternum is cut in half with a bone saw. At the donor site, the incision is taken down about a cm or 2 depending on the body habitus. The saphenous vein is realitively shallow (which makes it attractive for harvesting). Typically incisions are water-tight in 24-48 hours. The deposition of new tissue is usually complete by 3-6 weeks at which time the remodelling phase begins. Wounds usually reach maximal tensile strength about a year later. Your incision, however is infected so all bets are off. I am mildly surprized that they did not do a flap procedure.....whoops, just re-read your post - ok you don't usually do a flap for a vein donor site. If available and applicable, treatment of wounds with a "Vacuum assisted" dressing, allows faster and better results than if it was left to heal by "secondard intention". Wounds left to heal by secondary intetnion may take months to fully "granulate in" and I would have to see the size and depth of the wound to give you any better estimate. I would recommend that you speak with your surgeon to get his or her opinion about how long this will take since they can see the wound and know how well the treatment is going. For those of you who answered 1-2 weeks, please read these posts before replying. This would is _infected_ and will not heal normally.