What if the postpartum incision is hard, painful, and itchy?

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor I Truong Nghia Binh - Specialist in Obstetrics - Obstetrics and Gynecology - Vinmec Da Nang International Hospital
C-section is hard, painful and itchy are very common phenomena for women who have a cesarean section. Although it does not seriously affect health, it causes discomfort in life.

1. Explain the cause of the cesarean section after giving birth is hard and red

Normally, women who have a caesarean section will take a long time for the body to recover, even if the incision has healed outside, it still takes 1 to 2 years for the tissues and nerves inside to heal. fully recovered.
After a period of time, when the sutures are exhausted, the incision will be soft as usual, there are many cases where the incision forms keloids, although it looks unsightly, this does not affect health. of pregnant women.
Some women have a hard, red, or itchy incision after giving birth, which may be due to the cause just not fully digested, this phenomenon is not a concern, please continue to clean the abdomen and incision area. very clean, when the target is exhausted, this phenomenon will disappear.
In particular, the symptoms of the cesarean section are hard, red, accompanied by symptoms such as: severe abdominal pain, water coming out of the incision, fever higher than 38 degrees Celsius, swollen legs, bleeding with blood clots If there is a large blood clot, the pregnant woman needs to go to the hospital for examination immediately because the cesarean section may be infected. or damage to adjacent parts.

2. How long will it take for the cesarean scar to heal?

Depending on the location and health, each postpartum woman will have a different time to recover and heal. If the body is normal, it will recover faster, in the first few weeks after giving birth, the healing process can be clearly seen with the naked eye. However, after this time, the healing process will also be slower and the mother will no longer feel pain.
In addition, the time it takes for a postpartum incision to heal also depends on many other factors such as: the type of sutures used by the doctor, the care and hygiene of the incision.
In order to avoid the red and hard postpartum incision, the mother should pay attention to a number of issues such as:
Do not wear clothes that are too tight, wear loose and airy clothes to help air circulation, Avoid rubbing against the incision. Do not arbitrarily do too much exercise when the scar has not healed, just walk and exercise gently to increase blood circulation and prevent the formation of blood clots. Limit sun exposure to the scarred area as it can make the scar darker.

3. How to take care so that the postpartum incision is not itchy?

Women who give birth by cesarean section will take longer to recover than women who give birth naturally, in addition to taking care of the body to regain strength quickly, how to make the incision after childbirth not hard and itchy is important. Many pregnant women are interested.
According to the advice of specialists, pregnant women who have had a caesarean section need a new diet and scientific care to help the incision heal quickly, not be hard, not itchy due to the formation of keloids.
The mother should lie on her side to help reduce the pain caused by uterine contractions to push the fluid out, when standing up, sitting down should be done gently.
Do not arbitrarily remove the surgical wound dressing and wet the sterile dressing during 24-48 hours after birth.
The process of caring for and changing the surgical wound dressing needs to ensure hygiene, sterility and asepticity. After cutting the incision, the mother should follow the doctor's instructions on how to take care and abstain to avoid redness, itching and help heal faster.
The mother can use a warm towel soaked with dilute salt water to gently apply it when the postpartum incision is itchy and help reduce the pain of the incision when the weather changes. Absolutely do not use your hands to scratch the incision because this will further injure and form a large scar. A special note is that women should not arbitrarily apply medicine to the incision because this will increase the risk of wound infection.
In addition, in order for the scar to be more aesthetic and to avoid the formation of keloid and itchy scars, the mother needs to abstain from eating water spinach and seafood (after a cesarean section, eating seafood will cause the incision to itch).
Although the cesarean section is hard, painful, and itchy are normal phenomena, but in order to avoid the discomfort caused by this manifestation, each mother should equip herself with certain knowledge about the process of giving birth. Postpartum care and nutrition for pregnant women. When necessary, you can consult a specialist to be able to take the best care of yourself.
Vinmec International General Hospital applies the painless delivery method for women giving birth by cesarean section. With a team of professional anesthesiologists, pregnant women will be numbed with ultrasound machines to treat pain after surgery. The most recent results of analgesia evaluation showed that: All pregnant women who gave birth by caesarean section did not have to use morphine, and post-partum pain when moving and living was almost no longer recorded.

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