PS Op 3 weeks ago

You may wish that you hadn't had it done at present, but in the long-term, you'll be glad. I speak from [painful] experience - twice. I now have an operation to treat a perianal abcess to look forward to, so reluctantly, I feel I'm becoming something of an expert on 'things down below'.

The amount of tissue removed in the operation will be different from person to person. For a good chunk (100cm long, 50cm wide and 25cm deep) you're probably looking at a healing time of something around 3 to 4 months. (This assumes you're otherwise fit and healthy with no underlying conditions such as diabetes.) What anyone is aiming for is the time when you're left with perhaps a still livid scar but which gives you no discomfort whatsoever and doesn't limit either any movement or activity in any way.

Prior to this, the wick that is packed into the open wound will get smaller every week as granulation occurs and the wound heals. Once you've dispensed with any wick, then the scar tissue will remain weak for some more weeks - you shouldn't be limited in all activities but avoid strenuous exercises/stretching/lifting. If at any time you get the outer skin joining (your nurse or whover changes your dressing should pick this up) see your doctor immediately - if it closes without granualting from the base, the risk of getting a subsequent absess is high.

On a final note, you don't need to be hairy to get these as hair growing in the region is not always the cause - if latest research is to be believed, the trigger can be fluff, hair trimmings (e.g. after a haircut) and minute material fibres becoming packed into the hair follicle. Good luck!

Hi

how are you now and have you recovered further my son had this op on 01 August

Getting there slowly. I managed to get back to work after 2 months when the wound no longer required packing. It still hurts quite a lot and I have noticed that the wound isn't healing a quickly as before and seems to be seeping quite a bit which is worrying me - so going to head back to the doctors.

I had a follow up consultation at the hospital last week and left feeling quite dissatisfied with the attention paid by the consulatant who took a cursory look, said it was fine and then started speaking into a dictaphone so I had to wait to ask him a question, which he replied to quite curtly and I was ushered out of the room.

Does anyone know if a seeping wound is normal still (I had the op on July 9th).

I've been trying not to do any excessive exercise, but just day to day running around seems to cause pain too.

Thanks to John for your detailed reply. I have more helpful information from you than I have ever had from NHS.

Just wish it would heal now. :cry:

i had op the op a week ago had to get bandage change every day the doctor then told me to try some cream as it helped heal a previous pateint quicker. this is my first day with the cream its a lot less painfull then the bandage change ,just hopig now it heals good.

[quote:9fc1ebdaaa=\"Bobbi Smith\"]It wasn't until the day of my operation that I even knew I had an absess. I'd had very sore lumps at the top of my bum for about a year. it was so sore to sit and was more painful after exercise. Over a year I had seen 5 different GPs and a doctor at A&E (was in so much pain on a weekend) and given all manner of different antibiotics and told to keep clean.

At no point did I have any discharge.

I am a fair haired, fair skinned female. I have been told countless times now that it is rare for this to happen women, that normally it is \"hairy men\" I do however travel on a coach for 3 hours a day to and from work. I have read that being slumped whilst seated may cause this.

I had the excision 3 weeks ago. The wound has been left open to heal inside out and is packed, with the packing being changed by a district nurse daily. After 3 weeks the amount of dressing they can fit in the wound has dropped about a quarter.

I didn't realise quite how long this would take to heal.

I have been told by one of the district nurses that my wound is quite large for this procedure, but I was not told at the hospital what they found or removed from the wound.

Has anyone got any advice on how long a packed wound normally takes to heal? Anything anyone has done to speed up healing? It's not overly painful at the moment, just really uncomfortable and I can't wait for it to heal. I can't sit properly, walk for too long or drive my car! Some days I wish I hadn't had it done![/quote:9fc1ebdaaa][b:9fc1ebdaaa][i:9fc1ebdaaa][/i:9fc1ebdaaa][/b:9fc1ebdaaa]