Nagging sternum and incision pain 5 months post-op

[Marguerite53]

Hello, all. Wondering about my incision and sternum which, at 5 months out, is still very tender to the touch and gives me discomfort/pain. Kind of hit a threshold when we were away from home and the hotel light made my scar just pop out red. Was hoping, here, to get some comparison/feedback on how others? scars and sternums had healed over time.

I spent yesterday bouncing from my internist to my surgeon. Both had suggestions for helping ease the look of the scar (which I don?t even care about?.plastic surgeon, dermatologist injections to flatten it, etc.) but had no idea why I would still be uncomfortable in the sternum area. The sternum itself has been healed to their satisfaction for 3 months already. There is no scar infection (although the internist said she agreed it felt hot and would give me antibiotic ointment, except she didn?t want to create a yeast infection with the sweat of the summer?s heat and my deep cleavage). I?m not running any kind of fever. I asked about bone infection and both the internist and surgeon gave me the ?oh, you?ve probably been reading too much on the internet? kind of look. No. No chance there.

The scar has changed in the last month, the pretty white line has spread out and changed to dark pink. Scar tissue. (I was told it definitely could not be called a keloid. Wrong term. I forget the term they both used). I can live with the scar, even if it never calms down ? the look of it really doesn?t bother me. Mine is low and only 5 inches ? quite straight, too. My question is, why am I still so uncomfortable moving around? Or, after sitting for a long time, it just hurts like the dickens to get up and move. And then lately, there have been radiating pains across my chest?like sinus pain?..as if my chest had a sinus headache. Not deep inside (not heart attack scary?honest) but like pulling and burning. And this when I?m just sitting there doing nothing. I guess it feels muscularly congested.

So I assume it?s just nerve endings and scar tissue breaking up? Or natural healing process? Sorry to whine. It?s more annoying and loss of patience than anything, I guess. Just curious to hear others? stories. Thanks!

Marguerite

 

[Superbob]

Marguerite,

Watch out with that expression, "deep cleavage." You will get us horn dogs all stirred up. Ross, where are you?

Sorry, I know this is a real problem and not funny and I do sympathize. I don't remember still having pain in the sternum or incision five months out. Hope you get some good replies from "family" members on here.

Sounds like your internist and surgeon didn't have much help to offer, or just didn't get it. This doesn't necessarily apply everywhere but we live just down the road from a small country pharmacy, and some of the best advice we've gotten is from chatting with the pharmacist there. Not just about meds, but she pointed my wife to a doctor who has helped her with bad pain in the shoulders (probably from osteoarthritis).

I know we all hate to go to yet one more medical specialist but maybe there's one who can help you with this. Maybe even a "pain management" specialist?

I wish you well in resolving this.

Cheers,

 

[Ozmercy]

incision

incision

Everybodys nerve endings are different and it could be your skin and the muscle underneath is still sensitive to any kind of pulling. Have you been exercising the arms? Did you get hunched over a little after surgery. The muscles tend to retract and then as you are working them and getting them stretched out again there would be discomfort.

Okay as a guy I shouldn't go here but you said deep cleavage, if you are large chested then there would be more pulling on the skin and muscles. I had a niece who had to get a reduction because of neck and back pain. It may be something as simple as that. I would try and do simple stretching exercises a little at a time to see if it relieves the tension. Shoulder shrugs and moving your amrs like you are doing push-ups but with no weight, just the motion. Try to build some muscle to take the tension off the scar and to re-stretch those pec muscles back to normal strength. I may be way off base here but that is where I would start. Have you been using aloe vera or Vit. E on the scar to help it be softer. I am trying that and heard it works well.

 

[marky]

Marguerite..
I am sorry that you are having these problems..
Funny that you posted that b/c I just had 2 days of terrible sternum pain..and can't figure out why?
I guess it is still part of the healing process?
as for the incision? ..sounds like it is becoming Keloided..
the bottom half of mine has done that as well.. you may want to google that and find out at what point or how late after an incision it can still become keloided?
sorry I am of little help.. just wanted you to know that you are not alone.

 

[Mary]

Marguerite,
I'm so sorry you're having trouble with the incision line. I didn't experience anything similar, so from my vantage point, it looks like something is going on.
However, the other replies have shared similar experiences (well, maybe not Bob nor Oz with deep cleavage ), and maybe time will take care of it.
I doubt that this is of much help, but I wanted you to know you are in my thoughts.

 

[Kate]

I was suprised at how long my incision and sternum hurt as well. I'm now one year out and my scar is still sensitive to the touch and I can feel my sternum hurt now and then. When I was at five months, it was very noticeable on a daily basis (and I'm on the small end of the chest continuum ).

One thing that helped me was that I went to an osteopathic doctor who manipulated my sternum and the surrounding tissue. I went once or twice a month for about 4 months and it really seemed to help. Loosened up the tissue so it didn't seem to be pulling when I tilted my head up. Might be worth a try. Best of luck! Kate

 

[Marguerite53]

Thanks, everyone. Oz (er, Randy) I suspect you are on the right track, and not knowing anything about physiology of anything, I am going to go with the probablility that I was hunched over for awhile, and now am using chest muscles that need reawakening. The rehab weights had been so small, and so slow and steady, that I really didn't want to attribute it to that little workout. The stretching has felt wonderful from the beginning, so I'll continue to increase those, and try your shoulder shrugs. The vitamin E felt kind of burning, so I only tried it a few times. I've been using Aloe Vera gel lately because it feels so much cooler.

Ladies, thanks for your kind thoughts. Kate, that is a great suggestion and my husband had been suggesting that for some time…..never sounded very pleasant, but I think I may look into it as this is getting tiresome.

Rob...yes it is frustrating when the doctors just "don't get it", but it's not terribly serious, so it just ended up being somewhat frustrating for me. And then, what can I say..... I know I'll regret this, and will soon detach it but here is a photo of the scar. (I can only hope that Ross doesn't spot this!! ) It's a very short little thing, and the 2 inches you cannot see look wonderful!! Perhaps I should've kept it bandaged up!

Marguerite

 

[Mary]

If I can get a pic, I'll post mine too, Marguerite. My top portion was redder, longer, than the rest of the incision, but it never hurt once the "big bump" went down.

 

[Phyllis]

Marguerite, I have to laugh- that is a much better picture than the one I sent to Dr. Cohn of the stitch sticking out of Dick's chest- bet he would have much preferred this shot! Hope you are feeling better soon.

 

[Marguerite53]

....Phyllis!!

Looks like that photo came out very blurry as I took it into the mirror. Here's (hope I'm not grossing anyone out here) a close-up which should be much clearer. I never actually had a bump, Mary. My whole sternum scar was a ridge.

All comparative photos welcome!!

Marguerite

 

[RandyL]

Funny you should talk about sternum pain today, I was just complaining about it at my Doctors visit today. Mine seems worse now than it did a couple of months ago. It especially hurts after sitting for a long time and if I do anything strenous my left and right breast muscle hurts. I guess it just takes a while for it to heal.

 

[DeWayne]

I am only just shy of 7 weeks out of surgery. But I had my first and last post op with the surgeon this morning. One question I did ask was about sternum pain, to which he responded it was not unusual to experience pain there for even up to a year. My scar has a bit of redness still but he looked at it and said it looked great. Of course compared to my scar from 1959 this one looks small!

 

[Jkm7]

I'm two and a half years post op and my sternum is still sore. I had my cardio check it at my las visit and he said the bone healed fine and if it bothered me badly enough, they'd do a MRI or CT....I forget which.

He suggested I try a few exercises similar to what was mentioned above. Most of the time, I can't lay on my stomach as it is too sore and uncomfortable for me. I guess everyone heals differently.

My scar is about 10" and only has one small spot of keloid.

 

[debster913]

Marguerite--
Don't know what to tell you other than what everyone else has posted, but I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one with aches and pains (and I'm only almost three months out and the pain restarted recently). But I didn't know we were sharing scar pics! I have one, too. I took a pic for the cardio b/c he wanted one to show to his patients who are also facing valve surgery. Don't have it handy, though. It is a nice shot of the underside of my boob ten days post-op. Beautiful.

I know you said you weren't too concerned about minimizing the look of your scar, but I've been using Merle Norman Cosmetic's Luxiva Energizing Concentrate. It's made a difference in the appearance of my scar. Great stuff!

 

[mtkayak]

Why is everybody taking their clothes off? Do I have the wrong website?

Yoga at 6 weeks helped me work a lot of the soreness out. I hghly recommend it. 6 months later my chest is still a little sore but I love to stretch it out. My chest is hairy, you can barely see my scar.

 

[temp69]

looks just like mine, though my breasts are not as large, me being male. I thought at 10 weeks my scar was problematic, but now I can tell it's just...part of the whole deal. If you really want, I suppose I can post a picture. Naw...

 

[Joe Cool]

Yoga at 6 weeks helped me work a lot of the soreness out. I hghly recommend it. 6 months later my chest is still a little sore but I love to stretch it out. My chest is hairy, you can barely see my scar.

I was thinking the same thing. I take Tai Chi and it is good like yoga for stretching. So something along that line would be good to keep everything moving like it should.

 

[Marguerite53]

All very helpful replies. Thank you. Debbie, I will look for that concentrate next time I get to a mall. I have Repairwear super-something from Clinique but have been reluctant to put something so intense on the scar. Stupid, probably!

The Tai Chi and Yoga are excellent ideas. Great for balance too, and frankly, I still feel a teeny bit swoony once in awhile.....all those drugs!!! The simple stretching is already helping (even though I have been stretching daily, these are focused) and since Randy (Ozmercy) defined them so nicely, I'm calling them "my Ozzies".

RandyL you took your photo away, so I guess everyone is going to be shy. I'll zap mine away on Friday, too, so as not to be the only one hanging out here!! Thanks, tho, for putting up with them and offering your lovely support and great advice.

Marguerite

 

[Ozmercy]

photos

photos

Well I put 2 photos of my scar on my blog site you can check it out at:

http://web.mac.com/standthetest/iWeb/Site/Blog/Blog.html

It's definitely not as interesting as Marguerite's but I like the way the chest hair that they did not shave kind of looks like a bra made out of hair. Pretty cool, ain't it? Well all this talk has made me go out and look for an aloe vera/Vit. E type lotion. Haven't found one that looks good yet. I have been massaging my scar a little and trying to just encourage good blood flow.

 

[Cris N]

I went through sheer agony at the sensitivity of my scar. I finally used vaseline & a gauze pad (the vaseline to keep the pad from moving around) and the 'gentle' tape. In addition I wore tight fitting tank tops to keep anything everything else from rubbing up against it. The other thing I did was to frequently massage the area with rather firm pressure. I don't know how long I did all that but definitely by 10 months I had pretty much forgotten about the scar sensitivity.