Posted on April 27, 2021
I just was cleaning out my office and I found some papers I had written long ago about what is “normal” after surgery.
When you have surgery, your body is totally distorted for awhile afterwards. What of this is normal? What should I worry about? When I see patients and I say “you look great!”, many of them look at me like I am crazy. They wonder if I am seeing the same thing they are. I am- the difference is after 25 years of being a surgeon, I know when you look like X today –> you will look like Y in a month.
So. What is normal?
- Swelling
- Bruising.
- Pain. Even with pain medication, you may not get to a “1” out of 10. Some soreness, achiness, occasional jabby pains is normal. You want to take your pain medication so you are comfortable enough to move around and fall asleep.
- Crusting along the incision lines. This is normal. Following surgery scars are leaky. They can have a little bit of bloody or clear discharge. It is why I don’t tend to start scar treatments until a week out- its just messy before then. My corollary to this, is that you NEED TO CLEAN YOUR INCISION LINES. Once I take the tape off, you need to actually touch your incisions, and clean off these little scabby crusting things (as long as they come off easily) to prevent infections from happening and get prettier scars.
- Numbness. There is no way to cut through the skin without changing sensation. How numb and how long it lasts varies with type of surgery, where on the body, and you. Sensation usually gradually returns within 3-6 months.
- Itching. This is normal when nerves wake up. Small zings, itching, soreness occur as the nerve endings heal. Moisturizing and massaging can be helpful. If you have whole body itching in areas where you did not have surgery, particularly if you get a rash, it could be an allergy to a medication and alert your doctor.
- Redness of scars. All new scars are red, dark pink, or purple. This is normal. It takes time for the scars to fade, that time being 3-6 months. Certain areas of the body heal faster (face) than others (breast and body). It can take up to a year to fade completely.