Question:
My incision has an opening in the middle and i am four months??

IS THIS NORMAL? ALSO YESTERDAY I WAS CLEANING THE OPENING AND I PULLED OUT THESE TWO LITTLE PIECES THAT LOOK LIKE FISHING WIRE, WHAT IS THIS??? MY DR TOLD ME IT COULD TAKE A LONG TIME TO CLOSE WHAT CAN I DO TO SPEED THIS CLOSING UP? PLEASE EMAIL ME AND TELL ME ASAP IF YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS! THANKS SO MUCH!!! I AM WORRIED!!!    — Lori F. (posted on March 22, 2002)

March 22, 2002
was the wound once healed but now it's open? not to freak you out.. but no this is not normal.. or maybe i should say it's not normal to have this and not be under the treatment of your physician.. CALL YOUR DOCTOR ASAP.. he'll want to know things like are you running a fever? is there any drainage? ................ however, if your physician already knows it's open and thus told you it would take a long time to close - then it's called "secondary" wound healing and can take a very long long time.. if this is the case i hope he gave you good instructions on cleaning and caring for the wound.. as for speeding up the healing #1 increase your protein increase your protein increase your protein.. get the highest quality protein you can.. fish, eggs, tofu, etc.. #2 if you are diabetic, keep your blood sugar under control and #3 do not stress the incision by bending over etc as this disrupts the newly forming tissue #4 if you smoke, quit - if you're around people that smoke, leave when they light up or ask them not to until you're healed #5 if you take steroids for any reason (like lung problems) check with the prescribing physicians to see if there are any alternatives while your wound is healing. good luck.. and hang in there!
   — Ann W.

March 22, 2002
I am 6 weeks post op and have the same thing going on. A few weeks ago two little pieces of 'fishing wire' were sticking out, I assumed they were the dissolvable sutures, and I was right. Dr. said they would fall right off. They did, and it left a small opening in my incision, which has developed a small blood-filled seroma and was raised up a little bit. Of course, seeing this, I about freaked out, but I called my Dr. and they said it would probably pop on its own and then heal up, which would take time. This morning the seroma seems to have lowered, but it is still tender. I am keeping a keen eye on it. The nurse said to look out for fever and red streaks around the incision. If it doesn't feel better by the early part of next week I am going to do the better safe than sorry thing and travel to see the Dr.
   — Jennifer G.

June 6, 2003
Protein, protein, protein. Its not just to prevent hair loss. It is so important in the healing process. I would first look at your diet and make sure you are taking in enough protein.
   — marianne J.