Have a question for anybody

about 3 days ago I started hurting in my left rib area I call my surgeon spoke w/ his nurse she told me it was from were I had open surgery and they had to use a rectrator that is were the pain is coming from anyone else have this problem? What did you do for the pain ? They told me to damp a towel and put it in the microwave Just thought id ask

Sounds about right Rebecca.  They stretched your muscles all around the open incision to get at the area for surgery.  This stretching can be very tender for awhile.  Treat it like a sprain.  Moist warm heat, tylenol or stronger pain med that you were sent home on.  Take it easy on your stomach muscles for a bit longer.  Have you increased your activity in the last 3 days?

I had lap surgery and even then had sore areas not exzctly near the surgery sites that aches for a couple of weeks.  The soreness was worse when I tried to walk longer distances.  The aches are a way of our bodies telling us to continue to take it easy for a while longer.  I used a pillow to splint the area when I coughed or sneezed for the first few weeks, tylenol for mild aching and the narcotic for more intense discomfort.

I also found a very tender area on my left side, more at waist level about 2-3 weeks out from surgery, ended up being very constipated, much better when I got things moving internally again.  If you are using narcotic pain relievers, make sure to get enough liquids and possible laxative, fiber per your MD recomendation.  Milk of Magnesia tastes nasty, but very effective.

Hope you feel better soon.  Hugs, Kathy

Yep Sounds right to me too...I had an area like that I referred to as my invisable boo-boo.... can take a couple of months to quit being tender.. mine did. The muscles get bruised, and muscle tissue takes much longer to heal than other tissues do.

Hang in there! It will get better...

i have the same problem after my hernia repair and tummy tuck.  i am just biding my time and trying to take it easy.  i got a hernia over 2 months out from my bypass and i am not going to take the chance to have another. so i will be taking it easy until 6 months out.  that will be feb. 27 or so.  good luck to you. vick

thanks guys that was really help full

Ya know i just realized that I never addressed how I treated the pain from this... duh on me! Sorry!
I took tylenol if it was really bothering me. And i did exactly what they told you to do. I wet a medium sized towel, put it in a garbage bag, leaving bag open at the end, and heated it in the microwave. I used it as hot as I could stand it without it burning me at all. Once heated, then closed the bad tightly, and draped it across my abdomen, not only where the direct pain was but the whole abdomen. It felt sooo nice! The moist heat helps break down the bruising from the trauma of the surgery, thus improving healing time.