Question:
I have the beginnings of an infection around part of my incision and called my doc..

Sorry, this is a long post, but I need advice! For the past 4 days, I had something small and sharp sticking out of my skin on one side of my incision which was causing a slight irritation. I knew it had to be an internal stitch (since my doc used dermabond to close the outer incision and dissolvable stitches within), but didn't worry too much about it until this morning...when I woke up, there was a quarter-sized circle of redness encompassing the area where the stitch was sticking out, and stretching across the incision to the other side as well. I called the doctor's office, and his assistant said the stitch would work itself out and I should only call back if there were "signs of infection." I pointed out to her that redness WAS a sign of infection, but she countered back with "oozing from the incision or a fever" were the two reasons I should call back. The stitch came out in the shower today (it was TEENY!), but instead of the redness and pain/irritation going away, it's only gotten WORSE. Now the circle of redness is about PLUM-SIZED and it's swelling slightly - plus the pain has increased. What should I do?    — sweetmana (posted on July 23, 2003)

July 23, 2003
If I were you, I'd call back and insist on being seen and assessed. I had an area of redness around my incision that steadily grew in size for 5 days. I called around day two, and was told the same, fever, oozing, etc. indicated infection. When I finally saw my doctor it turns out that I had quite an infection, and an abcess the size of a lemon collecting fluids and blood. I was put on exceptionally strong antibiotics (that cost a fortune!), and my incision had to be reopened, and now, four weeks later, I'm still packing it. Good luck!
   — Dragon G.

July 23, 2003
I had a stich cause an infection about the size of a dime. I called the surgeon who couldn't really help me at 150 miles away so I went to my PCP who cleaned it out, gave antibiotics, and lollipops to apply to the skin to prevent tape burn. Go see a DR. Who ever you can.
   — Heather M.

July 23, 2003
I agree that you should see a doctor - preferably your surgeon. When I had my tummy tuck, I had fat cell necrosis and the incision had to be opened to let it drain. I would never have gotten as bad as it did but we had a bad ice storm and I couldn't get to the doctor for 4 days; by the time I got there, it was a mess. He opened it and then I had to pack it for about 10 days til it healed from the inside. It was an abcess but not infected. I NEVER had fever but it did open and drain before I actually saw the doctor but not enough.
   — Patty_Butler

July 23, 2003
Eh? This caught my eye: "lollipops to apply to the skin to prevent tape burn". Heather, could you email me and explain that to me? I'm allergic to every kind of tape there is, and if there's some way to avoid its taking my skin off, I'd love to learn about it! Thanks!
   — Dragon G.

July 24, 2003
I too agree that you need to go see your doctor. My surgeon told me that my incision wasn't infected and that everything was great, and within 2-3 days I had a tennis ball size lump that was red and very painful, that the same surgeon had to cut open so I could pack it for 4 weeks. If in the beginning some of these surgeons would listen to their patients a little better than all I might have had to do was take a few antibiotics. I hope everything goes good for you though.
   — Andrea M.

July 24, 2003
About 4 weeks out from my lap surgery all of my incisions were healed except for one.This was because some stitches were poking through the skin.It started getting red,swollen and oozed yellow gunk.I just clipped away the sutures that were poking through,put neosporin on it and kept it bandaged.It cleared up in a few days.
   — jennifer A.