Infected wound.

[ChloeL934]

Hi all

Had my surgery on 9th September, recovery has been very well, better than expected but past couple of days my belly button has been very sore & tender to touch & a funny smell, my other wounds are not sore anymore. Has anyone else experienced this?

I went to out of hour GP who wasn’t very interested & made me take off my own coverings & put new ones on, good job I took my own but she cleaned it & said it does look red but doesn’t look “overly infected” & gave me cream & sent me on my way, I know no one is a doctor here but is that normal to apply a cream to a wound like this not even 2 weeks post op?

I am going to get in touch with my own nurse this week, I have a two week check up on Wednesday but wanted to see if anyone else had been through similar xx

[kelsbels88]

Hi Chloe,

I can’t offer much advice in terms of the infection side of things I’m afraid, but I know that when I asked about applying creams to my scars so that they wouldn’t be visible they said minimum 6weeks before I put anything on them. I’m even really careful with soap when showering. As for your gp that’s disappointing, for me personally I would hang fire until I had spoken to my nurse and get their advice as I’m guessing she will be from your hospital or surgical team and know what’s happened.

But that is just my opinion, hope you feel better soon. Be gentle with yourself some days may be better than others xxx

[ChloeL934 in reply to kelsbels88]

Thank you for replying.

I found it strange her telling me to put cream on there, maybe it’s cream used for infections I’m not sure but just sounds weird to me I don’t know why lol! I have my 2 week check up Wednesday so hopefully they will know more xxx

[kelsbels88 in reply to ChloeL934]

Your very welcome - hope all gets sorted Weds xx 💕

[Klom81]

Hi I got a very localised infection in my belly button incision. It didn’t really look infected but was a bit red where the stitches were and it was extremely tender, just having clothes on was pretty unbearable and was knocking me sick. There was also what I thought looked like a little tiny bit of puss where the stitches went in to the skin.

I went back to the hospital and made them take a look at it and they tried to tell me that it wasn’t infected. This was about two weeks after the surgery and my stitches still hadn’t come out so they decided to remove them. One came out no problem but one was still pretty secure. It was this one that was sore. The nurses still weren’t convinced it was infected but grudgingly decided to take a swab and as they were poking it (I nearly got up and lamped them on it was that painful) a bit of puss came out. It instantly felt better. They told me to bathe it once a day with salt water and keep it covered until it had fully healed. It healed up fine after that.

xx

[ChloeL934 in reply to Klom81]

Thank you.

Yeah mine is very sore & tender & very red. I’ve had a phone call from my nurse this morning & im going in to get it checked xxx

[Bryonie22]

Hey,

I had mine on the 9th too and my belly button incision also looked a little irritated, started looking off on Friday.

A bit red and pussy, a little sore and a bit smelly. I went for a shower and let the water run over it and redressed it.

I went to a pharmacist and they told me to put some germaline on it and dress it.

Also leave the dressings off for a bit while I'm at home so it breathes.

It feels a little better today. Gonna have a shower and leave it undressed and dry until bedtime and then I'll pop some cream on it and redress it.

Thats my plan anyways and I'll do that for a couple days until I go back to work on Thursday.

A little tip - use a hairdryer on the cool setting and point it at your belly button after a shower to get it completely dry. Worked after my first surgery to stop any problems. I have multiple stitches this time so that might be why its being funny this time, I dont know.

Hopefully yours doesn't get worse! I'll let you know if my plan works

[ChloeL934 in reply to Bryonie22]

Thank you!

I just don’t know what to do, I’ve been having to wash down my whole body sorry if TMI Because I was told I wasn’t allowed a bath or shower or get them wet, I’m just so confused by it all. I’ve taken it off & cleaned it yesterday but my nurse wants to see me today anyway so I will be able to ask her properly. Thank you for your advice xx

[Bryonie22 in reply to ChloeL934]

Not TMI at all.

It is confusing. I dont know about you but I was on my own the entire day of my surgery and no one was there to get all the information. So they told me, but I wasn't really in the best state to take it all in!

Hope your appointment goes well! xx

[mrskiki]

Yes, talk to to your nurse. The nurse I saw took my temp which was ok and a swab of the wound, Told me absolutely no creams in the belly button- salt water or diluted tea tree OK . Swab came back from lab with correct antibiotic recommendation. She told me whilst waiting for lab result to come back if my temp went up and I felt sick or feverish to call ambulance! I was OK til then anyway so think it was mild. No dressing on mine once I left hospital, they told me to let the air to the stitches, not to get it soaked in bath for a few weeks. X

I had a lot of dissolvable stitches after a major op, and a quick gentle shower, no water hitting direct was OK. Pat dry and put a clean dry loose dressing only on the drain wound I had for a week as it wasn't stitched.

[ChloeL934 in reply to mrskiki]

I’ve seen my nurse this morning & she said everything looks fine, but took a swab just to be safe & said she will call if anything comes up & told me to leave dressings off & bath and shower as normal x

[Yellowfellow]

I had the same thing, my mum (who was a nurse and midwife, also had three similar surgeries ) said she was the same and its because I healed so well, my body was trying to heal where the stitches hadn’t dissolved yet. She had some gauze which had antibiotic sticky stuff on it, which I laid over it and eventually cut the stitches myself cause it was so irritating, but couldn’t get it all out, it healed over and then squeezed out the knot bit of the stitch with a tiny bit of puss. I know I shouldn’t have done that but it was such a relief And healed as soon as the stitch wasn’t irritating it any more! My mum did say, its better to get stitches removed earlier, like a week after surgery because some people heal super quick

[mrskiki in reply to Yellowfellow]

That explains my irritated wounds. I noticed after some time a couple of bits of new threads seemed to appear out of 2 of my reddish but fully closed up and itchy sore wounds, I pulled them out they healed properly! Wondered what happens to the stitches that must be inside and if that's why these things hurt so long!

[Becoming-me]

They tried to do a hysterectomy by lap but ended up having to cut me. My cut has healed nicely but my belly button has taken a bit longer. The wound nurse said the belly button wound can take a bit longer (it didn't help that I used a hot water bottle to help with the pain and swelling!). They told me NOT to use cream. Initially when belly button was really smelly she used iodine and sterile dressings and as it got better just salt water and sterile dressings. Now I'm showering carefully and carefully drying them and putting a sterile dressing on belly button. She is hoping to discharge me this week!

[mrskiki in reply to Becoming-me]

My op went that way too. Longer recovery with the big cut as well, it was bliss to just be able to sit up in bed again when it started healing! And first bath too ☺️ Funny what you appreciate.

[Noodle1984]

I had a rough go with the belly button. Mine took 5 months to heal. I’ve had an ct scan and now they want to do an ultrasound because they think I may have Endo in my umbilicus.

My timeline went kinda like this...two weeks post op my belly button was still super inflamed and hanging out so I got two bouts of antibiotics which made it come down a minimal amount. Then at 4 weeks post op I went back into my surgeons office and he removed a granuloma from it and it came down a tiny bit but continued to be super swollen. It was like a tail in my belly button. After this point I was ignored and fobbed off until about June which was 3.5 months post op and was sent to get an mri. But the hospital said I only needed a ct scan (which was inconclusive thanks) but was not an urgent case so bumped to the bottom of the line. So by the time the middle of August came around it had finally healed (at the end of July). I’m actually having a talk with the surgeon today to find out what’s going on because no one has booked this follow up ultrasound. Please keep on top of them. It’s not okay to be just sent off to deal with it. We’re not doctors! Be a pain in their ass and get on the phone every day until they do something.

[ChloeL934]

Thank you for everyone’s advice! I had an appointment with a nurse at my doctors this morning & she said everything looks fine xx