I had my tummy tuck on the 23rd of September so I am 1 month post op today and my incision has been dealing with some separation issues. I am just looking for a second opinion and any ideas or things I should know to help promote healing, my surgeon is on the opposite side of the country and I cannot afford to fly down right now so just looking for some immediate ideas and support. Thanks
Hello, after seeing your pictures, I think that this "separation " areas that you have in your suture line, should close by themselves with a proper wound care.
The good old WET TO DRY method with normal saline solution maybe is all what you need.
The wet to dry wound care should be done once a day for better results.
Keep away those open areas from water from the shower 🚿, antiseptics or other chemicals.
This process should take some weeks but it surely works when THE TISSUE EXPOSED is alive or viable.
There are many products in the market that may speed the healing natural process.
As you are ambulatory, it will be easier for you to apply a topical antibiotic ointment such as Bacitracin or Neosporin and cover with a clean dressing. NOTE: Prolonged use of these ointments may promote a localized allergic reaction. If so, stop. these are more important for the vehicle than the antibiotic. The goal is to keep the healing tissues from drying out. Wet to dry will promote sticking of the dry dressing to the healing tissues. Pull it off, and you'll pull healing tissue with it. Incidentally, sanitary napkins make good dressings. They are cheap, come in different sizes, are curved to fit the body, and have been shown to be as clean as surgical dressings. You may have a wider scar when healing is complete. Once the tissues have softened, you may benefit from revision. There are many good plastic surgeons closer to you. Seek one out.
This is the problem from having surgery away from where you live. The surgeon can not take care of you. You have a small separation of the wound that is not infected. It will close with some time. May take several weeks and it will appear that it never will heal and all of a sudden it heals. There are several ways to care for this and different surgeons will tell you different but I would use soap and water daily and cover the wound with Vaseline gauze. The wound will heal a lot faster with a wet environment. The use of Silvadene in my opinion would be ideal. It will be a good idea if you could get a plastic surgeon close to where you live to take a look at this but it may be difficult as some may not want to care for other people's problems. You should be in contact with the person who did your surgery and follow their advice or at least see any doctor close to you. There are a lot of other more severe complications that one can have with an abdominoplasty. You should heal just fine.
Agree with the other comments, plus eat lots of protein (>1g/kg). It will help your body heal the wound. Keep the wound moist with vaseline. Good luck.