Question:
I'm oozing from my incision.

I had an arm lift almost two weeks ago and I noticed that under both arms (more so from the left), I'm doing some oozing from my incision. The incision on the left is red in some spots and towards the end of the day there is this thick I guess yellowish to clear substance on it. I'm not sure if it is pus. There is no bad smell to it and I don't have a fever. I was on antibiotics the first week and had the oozing even then. The doctor looked at it and said everything is fine, but he didn't see the oozing because it takes a while before it builds up. (It's not much at all really.) I was just wondering if this was normal. I thought maybe it was slow healing because the incision is rubbing there under my arm. Everywhere else the incision looks good. Also, the doctor has told me not to use deodorant. He said he took out "everything" (not sure what he meant) and I don't need it, but I'm sorry its been warm and I think that I do. Is there anything else I could use instead? Would antibacterial ointment help?    — Lisa N M. (posted on March 13, 2004)

March 12, 2004
I had the same thing from my TT incisions and I had really bad yellowish puss coming from my drain tube sites and I was scared it was all infected and when the PS looked at it he said it was perfectly normal and gave me Bacitracin Zinc Ointment to put on everything and I never had any other problems. Good luck!
   — Sandy M.

March 14, 2004
Thin, straw-colored drainage is not infection. I had arm lift done in January. My incisions were a little "crusty" at times. My surgeon told me to soap and rinse the area daily in the shower. He also had me use thin coat of antibiotic ointment on the incision lines twice a day. The incisions healed nicely and are thinner than pencil lead. Now I apply Vitamin E skin oil twice a day and gently massage the lines 3-4 times per day. This helps fade the scar and minimize scar formation.
   — Linda Dianne E.

March 14, 2004
Thanks for the answer. Linda, I've heard that sometimes Vitamin E oil can make scars worse, so that may be something you should look into.
   — Lisa N M.

March 20, 2004
hi hon hope your feel better, the oozing sounds normal. i think when the dr said that he took everything out he was talking about the sweet glads that we have under our arms,i am allergice to all under arm deoderents so this was a real problem for years. i now use baking soda and baby powder mixed together. us lightly it doesn't take much. (one box baking soda to one large can baby powder mix together and us a poder puff to apply.) good luck
   — Peggy R.