Question:
burning pain on left side of incision, under breastbone

i am 8 weeks post-op. physical recovery of my open rny has been uneventful. on sunday i coughed and felt burning pain on the left side of my incision, under my breastbone. i have no pain when i eat or drink only when i cough or move in a particular way. also, when i press it i do not feel any pain. i called the doctor and they said it could be scar tissue developing or a muscle pull but i have never felt a muscle pull burn before. i eat very small portions and drink 64 oz of water a day. i am worried and concerned. if anyone has any advice or this has happened to someone else before i am listening! thank you.    — medusa D. (posted on April 3, 2001)

April 2, 2001
Well, I hve 2 answers to your question I think. About 4 weeks postop, I was having this pain to the right of my incision. I ended up being hospitalized for dehydration and testing to see if my GB was going. Turns out that it was just a muscle pull or scar tissue forming. After 3 days I was released. However, during my recovery, everytime I coughed or did something strenous, I would feel this hot, searing pain along my incision. I was petrified that I was splitting open!!! I called the doctor and he told me this was normal with the healing and I shouldn't worry. I was not going to "split" open! It went away as I healed. I don't know if any of these two situations help you, but I hope so. I am now 22 weeks post op and doing Great!!! Down 88 pounds as of yesterday! Good luck
   — enjo4

April 3, 2001
I am 4 months post op -- started having this same pain about 2 months post op- I had a checkup and the doctor said it was my muscle cramping. I talked to other people in my area and they said the same thing. Still every now and then I get that same muscle cramp up. I just try and stay still for a few moments and take deep breaths. It goes away after a few seconds. I would still have it check out by your doctor to make sure its not anything else. Good luck
   — Melanie C.

April 3, 2001
Same thing here...my doctor told me that it's most likely the collagen buildup in my healing internal tissues, and that I need to stretch the area gently to help soften the collagen scarring. Might not be what's happening with you, but that's my situation. Stretching did help quite a bit, btw.
   — Suzanne B.

July 17, 2002
Three days after my surgery and lots of coughing and sneezing from allergies, I got this horrible pain on the left side of my stomach near the cut for the camera. It hurt like hell no matter if I were still, moving, standing or sitting. I thought I had busted something or created a hernia or popped every staple in my body. It was a very intense stabbing, burning pain. I held my stomach for a few hours (yeah, I phoned the doc!) and then the pain came up only if I moved a certain way. I still have it from time to time. My surgeon said that I had 'irritated my diaphragm and there was no need to come in unless a fever developed.' Irritated my Aunt Fanny! That was one seriously pissed off diaphragm! LOL
   — Carmen K.

July 17, 2002
I had a similar pain too -- I'm almost 6 weeks postop -- up until last week or so. Especially when I was getting out of bed and trying to sit up. Since then I've been exercising a great deal more, and haven't had any problems. Of course the last thing I wanted to do was exercise (ha), but it's really helped. I don't have any more problems with the pain or achiness.
   — Karen B.

July 17, 2002
Well, the same pain same symtoms. Saw my Dr. yesterday and he says that at around 8 weeks the healing is taking place and that "the intercausted"(i know this is not spelled right)nerve that is around your old stomach is what is causing the pain..It will subside after about four weeks. He also told me I could have a nerve block and that would be all it would take. I however, after not wearing my underwire bra...Have felt 100 percent better in twenty four hours. Good luck.
   — Mary H.