How to care for a scar after surgery. Briefly about the most important things. What foods should you eat to help your stitches heal faster after breast surgery?

After surgery, scars and sutures appear on the skin, which persist for a long time. The duration of their healing is determined by the general resistance of the body, the characteristics of the skin and other factors. The main task in the postoperative period is to prevent the development of infection and speed up the regeneration process in all possible ways.

After abdominal surgery and suturing, the healing process includes several stages

1. Formation of collagen or connective tissue by fibroblasts. During the healing process, fibroblasts are activated by macrophages. Fibroblasts migrate to the site of damage, and subsequently they bind to fibrillar structures through fibronectin. At the same time, the process of active synthesis of extracellular matrix substances begins, among which collagen is present. The main task of collagen is to eliminate tissue defects and ensure the strength of the emerging scar.
2. Epithelization of the wound. This process begins as epithelial cells migrate from the edges of the wound to its surface. After epithelization is complete, a kind of barrier to microorganisms is formed, and fresh wounds are characterized by low resistance to infections. A few days after the operation, in the absence of any complications, the wound regains its resistance to infection. If this does not happen, then perhaps the cause was a suture dehiscence after surgery.
3. Reduction of wound surfaces and wound closure. This result can be achieved due to the effect of wound contraction, which is to a certain extent caused by the contraction of myofibroblasts.

The healing period after surgery is largely determined by the characteristics of the human body. In some situations, this process occurs quite quickly, while in other patients it can take quite a long time.

Treatment of sutures after surgery

Before answering the question of how long it takes for a suture to heal after abdominal surgery, you need to understand what affects this process. One of the conditions for a successful result is the implementation of correct therapy after the patient is sutured. In addition, the following factors influence the duration of the postoperative period:

• sterility;
• materials for processing seams;
• regularity of the procedure.

After surgery, maintaining sterility is considered one of the important requirements. This means that seam treatment is only allowed with well-washed hands using disinfected instruments.

How are sutures treated after abdominal surgery, and what disinfectants are the most effective? In fact, the choice of a particular drug is determined by the nature of the injury, and for treatment you can use:

• medical alcohol;
• hydrogen peroxide;
• iodine;
• potassium permanganate solution;
• brilliant green;
• ointments and gels with anti-inflammatory effects.

If it is necessary to treat postoperative sutures at home, then for this purpose you can use the following traditional medicine:

• pure tea tree oil;
• tincture of larkspur roots from 20 grams of herbal remedy, 200 ml of water and 1 glass of alcohol;
• cream with calendula extract, to which you can add a drop of orange or rosemary oil.

Before using such folk remedies at home, it is recommended to first consult with a specialist.

What affects healing?

The duration of wound healing after suturing depends on the following factors:

• the age of the patient - in young people tissue restoration occurs much faster than in older people;
• body weight - the wound healing process can slow down if a person is overweight or obese;
• nutritional features - lack of energy and plastic material can affect the quality and speed of reparative processes in the wound;
• dehydration - lack of fluid in the body can lead to electrolyte imbalance, which slows down the healing of sutures after surgery;
• state of blood supply - wound healing occurs much faster if there are a large number of vessels near it;
• chronic pathologies can slow down the recovery process and cause various complications;
• state of immunity - with a decrease in the body’s defenses, the prognosis of surgical intervention worsens and wounds may fester.

The supply of the required amount of oxygen to the wound is considered one of the main conditions for wound healing, since it participates in the synthesis of collagen and helps phagocytes destroy bacteria. Anti-inflammatory drugs can slow down the healing process in the first few days, but subsequently have virtually no effect on this process.

One of the common reasons for the deterioration of a wound after surgery and a slowdown in its healing process is considered to be secondary infection, which is accompanied by the formation of purulent exudate.

Processing rules

In order for the healing of sutures to take place as quickly as possible without the development of complications, it is necessary to adhere to the following rules:

• before starting the procedure, it is necessary to disinfect hands and instruments that may be needed to carry it out;
• You should carefully remove the applied bandage, and if it is stuck to the skin, pour peroxide on it;
• you need to smear the seam with an antiseptic using a cotton swab or gauze swab;
• the bandage must be carefully applied.

It is important to remember that seams should be treated twice a day, but if necessary, the amount can be increased. In addition, it is necessary to carefully examine the wound each time for the presence of any inflammation. It is not recommended to remove dry crusts and scabs from the wound, as this can lead to the appearance of scars on the skin. You should shower with care and do not rub the seam with a sponge that is too hard. If the sutures on the abdomen turn red or purulent exudate begins to ooze from them, you should see a doctor as soon as possible.

Only a doctor can decide when sutures are removed after abdominal surgery. This procedure is carried out under sterile conditions using special instruments and usually 5-10 days after surgery.

Healing products

In order to speed up the resorption and healing of sutures after surgery, you can use antiseptics at home. Experts recommend using them not to treat wet wounds, but only when the healing process has begun. The choice of one or another ointment depends on the nature of the damage and its depth. For shallow superficial wounds, the use of simple antiseptics is recommended, and if complications develop, it is necessary to use drugs containing hormonal components.

How to remove a scar after abdominal surgery, and what ointments are considered the most effective for treating sutures?

• Vishnevsky ointment accelerates the removal of pus from the wound;
• Levomekol has a combined effect;
• Vulnuzan contains natural ingredients and is easy to use;
• Levosin destroys bacteria and stops the inflammatory process;
• Stellanin helps get rid of tissue swelling and destroy infections, and also accelerates skin regeneration;
• Argosulfan has a pronounced bactericidal effect and helps to achieve an analgesic effect;
• Actovegin successfully fights the inflammatory process in the wound;
• Solcoseryl minimizes the risk of scars and cicatrices.

Such medications, when used correctly, help speed up the healing process of the wound after surgery and avoid infection. It is important to remember that before smearing a postoperative suture on the abdomen, you must consult a doctor. The fact is that independent treatment of postoperative sutures can result in severe suppuration of the wound and its further inflammation. Compliance with simple rules is the key to successful treatment of postoperative sutures and helps prevent the formation of scars.

Hello PAVEL.

The healing process of any surgical suture entirely depends on the level of resistance of the skin and the entire organism as a whole. In addition, microbial lysis interferes with healing, i.e. infection by pathogenic microorganisms and subsequent suppuration. That is why it is important to know how to properly and effectively care for a stitch at home after a laceration caused by a fall.

Seam treatment at home at the initial stage

Today, despite the huge number of antiseptics and medications that help activate the healing and regeneration processes of the skin, ordinary iodine and potassium permanganate remain the most effective. As they say, “cheap and cheerful”!

You should know that treating the seam once a day is not enough. This must be done at least 2-3 times. Moreover, at the emergency room you should have been warned that you can wet the place where the suture was placed on the wound no earlier than a week after the provision of medical measures. And while taking a shower, and while dressing, and at any other time, you must not touch the seam or have any mechanical impact on it. This can damage the healing scar on the skin and significantly delay the wound healing process.

It is necessary to treat the wound until the sutures have healed completely. At first, it is necessary to apply a sterile bandage to the stitches. As the wound begins to dry out, the bandage can be removed to allow more oxygen to reach the wound. It is recommended to remove the sterile dressing only if the suture is dry and there is no pus, blood or other liquid oozing from the wound. By the way, the release of fluid from the suture is a very common complication during the healing of lacerations that have been stitched. It is not recommended to treat such seams at home; this should be done by a trained specialist. The fact is that the release of fluid from a wound is a sign of infection, so to avoid the development of further complications it is necessary to seek qualified help.

Treatment of the seam consists of carefully blotting the seam with a gauze cloth (it is strictly not recommended to use cotton wool, since its particles remaining on the wound can provoke the development of an inflammatory process), generously soaked in hydrogen peroxide, and then cauterize it with brilliant green. This is the simplest and most affordable option for wound care. In addition to brilliant green, you can treat the wound with alcohol or another antiseptic. Castellani liquid or fucorcin are best suited for this. Also stock up on sea buckthorn ointment, milk thistle oil or Levomekol. The principle of action of these drugs is the same. They promote faster healing of the wound, and the scars look neater and are subsequently less noticeable. Later, when the wound heals, it will be possible to treat it with Panthenol. It is also quite effective for treating sutures of all types of wounds. If the wound heals well and without complications, you can add physiotherapeutic procedures, which involve the use of various absorbable solutions, as an additional therapy.

Scar treatment after suture removal

After the doctor removes the stitches (approximately this happens in the third month), the wound site can be treated with Mederma or Contractubes ointments. These are very effective medications, the long-term and regular use of which allows you to almost completely get rid of scar formations on the skin that appear as a result of tissue damage during injury and subsequent suturing. If the aesthetic aspect is of fundamental importance to you, be sure to consult with the doctor who will remove the stitches about the use of these ointments.

Sincerely, Natalia.

Treatment of sutures after surgery is a prerequisite, which ensures rapid and proper healing of wounds. It should be noted that the healing of sutures after surgery depends on a large number of factors. For some, this process goes through successfully in a few days, while others have to suffer for several months.

Complete healing is only possible if the postoperative wound is sterile. The sutures after surgery are adjusted in such a way that the edges of the wound are completely joined. This completely eliminates the formation of cavities.

How can you treat the wound area after surgery?

Every person should know what exactly the stitches should be treated with after surgery so that the healing process takes place in the shortest possible time. Various antiseptics can be used for these purposes. Such agents include iodine, potassium permanganate, and alcohol. You need to be very careful with iodine, as in large quantities this product can dry out the skin.

If desired, you can also use ordinary brilliant green, which should be used to treat the wounds every day for 6 days. This can be done very conveniently using ordinary cotton swabs. The problem is that with this medication it is often not clear how the wound is healing and whether any complications have appeared. Zelenka can be replaced with fucorcin. This product should be used to treat not only the seam, but also the area around it. However, experts warn that after the wound has healed, it will not be easy to wash off fucorcin.

If you have hydrogen peroxide on hand, then the problem can be considered half solved. A small piece of gauze should be soaked in hydrogen peroxide and applied to the affected skin. A slight burning sensation may occur. Don't worry, as this reaction is considered normal.

40% medical alcohol can be used if the seam is inflamed in some places. In this case, it is not worth treating areas of the skin where there is no inflammation, as this can lead to their drying out, which will significantly slow down the process of tissue regeneration. If after this the inflammatory process does not go away, and there is constant aching and pulling in the area of ​​the suture, then you should definitely seek help from a specialist.

Also very popular are Contractubex ointment and silicone patch, which prevents the formation of keloid scars.

In the first days after surgery, it is recommended to apply a bandage with a hypertonic solution to the affected areas of the body.

This solution is prepared quite simply: pour 2 tablespoons of table salt into 1 cup of boiling water. The finished product should be cooled to room temperature, a gauze cloth should be moistened in it, applied to the suture site and bandaged with a bandage.

Often, in the second week after surgery, the patient begins to complain of unpleasant itching in the suture area. This phenomenon is considered quite normal, since it is during this period that the active healing process takes place. These unpleasant symptoms can be eliminated using a cotton pad generously soaked in a novocaine solution.

Often after the operation, for one reason or another, the sutures come apart, which causes severe pain and the appearance of unpleasant discharge. In this case, you should not wait long; you should immediately seek help from a specialist. This will help avoid adverse consequences. In such situations, doctors, as a rule, resort to Vishnevsky ointment. This remedy helps remove pus from the wound and promotes its speedy healing.

How to process seams?

It is important to know not only how to treat seams, but also how to do it correctly. Treatment of wounds should be carried out 2 times a day, without skipping a single procedure. In some cases, on the recommendation of doctors, wounds can be treated more often.

The dressing must be changed until the stitches are removed. Dressings should be carried out in hospital rooms that are designed specifically for this purpose. Such daily procedures will help speed up the healing of the skin. The thing is that air helps the joints dry out faster. If dressings are performed at home, then you need to be as careful as possible. The bandage should be removed very carefully, as the bandage often sticks to the wound. Only after this can the affected area be poured with a thin stream of hydrogen peroxide, and then with an antiseptic.

An important rule is that before treating postoperative injuries, hands must be perfectly clean. Therefore, before starting the procedure, hands must be thoroughly washed with soap, preferably up to the elbows.

When treating postoperative wounds, you should never remove scabs or remove whitish plaque, as this indicates the structure of a new layer of epithelium. If this layer is damaged, depressions may appear, which will lead to the formation of scars.

In most cases, sutures are removed 7-10 days after surgery. This procedure is quite painless, so it takes place without any anesthesia. Immediately before starting this procedure, the wounds are treated with special means. Once the sutures are removed, bandages are no longer necessary. You can take water procedures only after 2-3 days.

How to treat sutures after a caesarean section

After a cesarean section, it is very important to properly handle the sutures. After such surgical intervention, the wounds are often treated with a 5% solution of potassium permanganate for 2-3 days. The dressing should be changed constantly. This will help you notice suppuration in time. The threads are usually removed on the 6th day before discharge. When taking a shower, you should never put too much pressure on the seam area and use hard sponges for washing. This can cause keloid scars.

After the birth of the baby, very often, the young mother is given internal and external stitches. Internal ones are considered to be those that were applied for ruptures of the walls of the vagina or cervix. There is no need to look after them. Care should be taken of the external seams that are placed on the perineum. During the first time after surgery, midwives take care of everything. They moisten the affected areas twice a day with a solution of potassium permanganate or brilliant green. After discharge, such activities should be carried out independently after each bath.

If scars do appear after the birth of a child, they can be easily removed using a scar resurfacing procedure. Laser resurfacing is a very effective procedure that is carried out today in many beauty salons.

Folk recipes

As practice shows, sutures heal much faster after surgery if they are treated with folk remedies. Currently, there are quite a lot of such recipes, so everyone can find something suitable for themselves:

1. Healing cream.

2-3 tablespoons of cream with calendula extract should be mixed with 1 drop of rosemary oil and the same amount of orange oil. The resulting consistency is lubricated on the affected areas of the skin.

1. Tea tree oil.

This healing agent must be used to treat wounds immediately after surgery. In the future, this procedure should be repeated for 7 days.

1. Ointment from Sophora japonica fruits and goose fat.

With the help of such a folk remedy, wound healing will occur much faster. To prepare this product, you will need to mix 2 cups of dried sophora japonica fruits with 2 cups of goose fat. If desired, goose fat can be replaced with badger fat. The resulting mixture should be heated in a water bath for 2 hours. Next, this consistency must be heated once over the next 3 days. On day 4, the composition must be brought to a boil and removed from heat. The finished ointment must be mixed thoroughly and poured into a glass container. A small amount of the product should be placed on the bandage and applied to the seams.

1. Larkspur tincture.

An excellent product for treating seams. 2 tablespoons of larkspur roots put through a meat grinder should be filled with 250 ml of water and the same amount of alcohol. The resulting product should be used to treat the affected areas of the body.

1. A healing mixture of 100 grams of beeswax and 400 grams of sunflower oil. The resulting consistency is mixed and cooked over low heat for at least 10 minutes. After the product has cooled, it must be applied to a bandage that is applied to the sore spot.

Before using any folk remedy for healing sutures, you should consult a doctor to avoid any serious complications.

One stitch, two stitches, it will be fun! - the obstetrician said with a needle at the feet of the happy woman in labor. For some, this black humor becomes an unfunny reality and causes a lot of trouble and trouble. We'll talk about situations that inspire obstetricians to take up the needle, ways to quickly heal and relieve pain.

When to apply stitches and causes of ruptures

Childbirth does not always go smoothly, and sometimes you have to pay for the happiness of having children with birth injuries - tears and cuts in the genital tract, which are covered with external and internal sutures after childbirth. Injuries can be internal - ruptures in the cervix and vagina, and external - ruptures and cuts in the perineum.

After a natural birth, the obstetrician must check for ruptures and, if detected, they are sutured. Otherwise, if suturing is not carried out, the postpartum period threatens to end in a hospital bed due to bleeding in the injured tissues and the addition of infection to them, and in the future even provoke prolapse of internal organs and urinary and fecal incontinence.

The process of applying external and internal sutures takes a long time and requires high qualifications of the doctor, and in the case of ruptures in the cervix that extend to the vagina and uterus, and some virtuosity due to the inaccessibility and danger of damage to the nearby bladder and ureters.

Internal sutures after childbirth on the cervix, vagina and uterus itself are applied using absorbable threads made of biological or semi-synthetic material. If only the cervix is ​​affected, then anesthesia is usually not required - after childbirth it is insensitive. In all other cases, local or general anesthesia is used - anesthesia or epidural anesthesia.

The muscle layers in case of ruptures and cuts of the perineum are also sutured with absorbable threads, and the skin is often made of non-absorbable silk, nylon and other materials, which are removed in the maternity hospital or in the antenatal clinic, usually 3-7 days after childbirth, when the suture is scarred. The procedure is quite painful and therefore anesthesia is required.

The reasons for ruptures can be different. This includes not following the advice of the obstetrician during the pushing period, and the presence of scars from sutures placed in previous births (the scar consists of inelastic connective tissue), rapid, prolonged, premature and instrumental births (application of forceps), anatomical features of the pelvic structure, a large head in a child, breech presentation, low skin elasticity at the time of birth.

Presence of spotting one month after birth

Obstetricians have different attitudes toward episiotomy—dissection of the perineum. For some, this is a routine procedure that is performed en masse to avoid the risk of perineal rupture. Other doctors strive for the most natural course of the birth process, intervening when it is already quite obvious that a rupture cannot be avoided. If instrumental delivery is performed with forceps or a vacuum extractor, then preliminary dissection of the perineum is recommended.

Episiotomy does not help prevent third-degree tears when the anal sphincter is involved in the violation of the perineal integrity and may even contribute to such injury. Still, surgical dissection has a number of advantages over rupture. Dissected tissues are technically easier to repair than torn ones. The resulting wound has smooth edges, healing occurs faster and a more aesthetic scar is formed.

Healing and treatment of sutures

As unfortunate as it may be, what happened happened, and as a result, after giving birth, you needed stitches. With internal sutures, if the suturing procedure is performed correctly and carefully, the pain lasts for about 2 days. They do not require special care and do not need to be removed, since they are made of absorbable thread.

Self-absorbing sutures after childbirth made from natural material - catgut - completely dissolve in about a month, and from synthetic ones - after 2-3 months. Internal ones heal faster and can diverge in extremely rare and exceptional cases.

The outer crotch seams are a completely different matter. With such a postpartum reward, it’s painful to move, it’s difficult to go to the toilet, and you can’t sit down at all because the stitches can come apart.

The ban on sitting remains in effect for two weeks, after which you can gradually try to sit on hard surfaces.

If catgut sutures were placed on the perineum, then do not be alarmed if after a week pieces of threads appear that have fallen off - during this period the material loses its strength and breaks. The seams will no longer come apart, unless, of course, you start dancing. How long it will take for the material to dissolve depends on the speed of metabolic processes in the body. Sometimes there are cases when the catgut does not dissolve even six months after suturing.

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Non-absorbable thread sutures from the perineum are removed 3–7 days after birth. If this was not done in the maternity hospital, then the sutures are removed by a gynecologist in the antenatal clinic. During the removal procedure itself, it is a little unpleasant, but in most cases it does not hurt, or the pain is quite tolerable.

How long it takes for sutures to heal after childbirth is influenced by the individual healing rate of damage received by the body - both from minor scratches and from more serious injuries.

Usually this process does not take more than a month, but on average is 2 weeks.

Both before and after removal of sutures, it is necessary to regularly treat them. This is especially important, since postpartum discharge and the constantly moist environment of the perineum contribute to the proliferation of various microorganisms on the wound surface. As a result, the sutures may fester and healing will be delayed indefinitely.

How and with what to treat stitches after childbirth at home? Just like in the maternity hospital, you need to treat two to three times a day with antiseptic solutions and/or antibacterial ointments that suppress the uncontrolled growth of inflammation-causing bacilli. The most accessible means are the well-known brilliant green, hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate, chlorhexidine, etc. Ointments include levomekol and others. Treatment should be carried out avoiding a sitting position.

If you provide air access to the perineum, healing will go much faster. To do this, you need to use “breathable” pads made from natural materials and refrain from wearing tight underwear. The ideal option is to provide “ventilation” during sleep, when you can completely abandon underwear and sleep on a special absorbent diaper, or an oilcloth with a regular fabric diaper.

To accelerate regeneration, adequate nutrition is also necessary, supplying building material to the site of injury. Among the folk remedies, tea tree oil and sea buckthorn oil accelerate healing. And of course, hygiene rules and maintaining cleanliness are welcome on the path to rapid healing.

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How to relieve pain

During the healing process of the sutures, tissue contraction occurs - the wound surfaces contract and the wound is closed with a scar. Therefore, it is quite normal that the sutures hurt after childbirth, like any other injuries that violate the integrity of muscle and epithelial tissue. Discomfort – pain and itching in the perineum may be experienced up to 6 weeks after birth.

If the pain is of a different nature, and even more so when the sutures begin to fester, you need to consult a doctor.

If the pain is severe, which happens in the first days after childbirth, then applying cold to the perineum and painkillers can help cope with it. In the maternity hospital they give injections, at home you can take ibuprofen (Nurofen), which is not contraindicated during breastfeeding and has an anti-inflammatory effect. To feel less pain when urinating, you can try urinating while standing in the bathroom with your legs apart.

Sutures after surgery require careful care. This will significantly speed up wound healing and shorten the rehabilitation period. The method of treating the wound depends on its location. In this article we will tell you how to speed up the healing of sutures after surgery and how to care for them.

Caring for seams in the crotch area

Wounds on the mucous membranes heal the worst. Typically, stitches are placed after an episiotomy or removal of hemorrhoids. If possible, incisions in the perineal area should not be wrapped in dressings. Do not use adhesive tape as it does not allow air to pass through. You need to try to ensure sufficient air circulation. To do this, wear only cotton underwear.

After an episiotomy delivery, try not to wear underwear at night or while resting. Of course, after childbirth, lochia is released, but the use of pads significantly slows down the healing process of tears in the perineal area. Therefore, try to shower and wash your stitches more often. When sleeping, do not wear underwear, but use absorbent diapers.

Some doctors recommend treating sutures in the perineal area with peroxide. Don't rub the wound, just fill a syringe with hydrogen peroxide and squirt it onto the wound. Don't forget to remove the needle from the syringe. If you have sutures on the cervix after childbirth, they do not need to be treated with anything. Douching should not be used. If necessary, your doctor will prescribe suppositories or suppositories.

Scar care after abdominal surgery

If you have undergone abdominal surgery, then most likely you will be in the hospital for 7-10 days. All this time, health workers will care for the wound. When you are discharged, you will have to treat them yourself before the sutures are removed. This can be done using:

• brilliant greens;
• alcohol;
• hydrogen peroxide;
• sodium chloride;
• potassium permanganate.

To treat a wound, you need to take a piece of sterile gauze and dip it in the solution. After this, gently blot the scar. No need to rub the bandage from side to side. If nothing is oozing from the seam, then there is no need to seal it with a bandage or apply a bandage. In the air, postoperative scars heal faster.

Sutures are usually removed 7-14 days after surgery. Until this point, they must be covered with a bandage. It is best to do this in a clinic. After removing the sutures, there is no need to treat the scar with anything. After 2-3 days you can swim and shower.

What to do if blood or pus is oozing from the suture

In this case, you should consult a doctor. This often happens after cesarean or other abdominal surgery. Most likely, ichor is oozing. If swelling and redness appear, you should not self-medicate. Go to the surgeon immediately. To prevent clothes from sticking to the wound, it is necessary to lubricate it with sea buckthorn ointment or sprinkle it with crushed streptocide. It dries the blood perfectly and speeds up wound healing.

Usually, uninfected sutures after surgery do not require any special care. To minimize bleeding, it is necessary to reduce physical activity and avoid lifting heavy objects.