Scars

I nearly fainted when i had the clips out! Not that it was especially painful, first one nipped a bit but after that the nurse seemed to get her hand in. My problem was being squeamish about the wound coupled with the fact that this nurse was somehow a bit hesitant and made me feel like the wound wasn't healed. It bled very slightly so she put another dressing on it which I left on for a couple of days. Once I took that dressing off I started to cover the wound before bed because i tend to lay face down and I didn't feel comfortable without it covered. I think that lasted for about a week until i got fed up with covering it and retrieving sticking plaster that fell off in the night.

I started using the Boots scar reduction serum religiously and as i posted yesterday the doctor said my scar was absolutely excellent.... Hard to know what to say to that isn't it?! I do think the serum (of any sort) is useful. It keeps things soft and supple and less likely to catch on anything.

I had dissolving stitches, but when the nurse took the dressing off and said it looked fine and didn't need to be redressed I was panicking. It's OK to get it wet but obviously don't let it soak in water, maybe a shower rather than a bath first off. I used bio oil on mine and my scar has healed really well. It's a thin white line top and bottom which you can hardly see. The only protruding bit is the part where it bled after surgery which now looks like, what others refer to on here, as the angry purple worm, ha.

Hi Christine. I too had dissolving stitches so didn't have to face the trauma of having clips removed! My wound healed OK though I had a slight infection post-op but it cleared up quickly. My initial advice was it was OK to wet the wound but not soak it or aim the shower head directly over it, at least for a while. Very soon you can bathe the wound as you can any other part of the body. I was told my wound looked like a cornish pasty at first! Good luck!

I was told not to get it too wet till it healed more (scabs gone).  I had a seat in the shower and just stuck my leg slightly out of the water and laid a flannel over my knee.  Then I would give it a quick wash with the shower and dry it straight away.  So I think you can get it wet, but don't let the scabs soak.

i was also told not to put any oils or creams on the scar until the scabs had totally gone.

Hi Christine when I had my stitches out wound was completely dry and intact so I showered straight away and rubbed bio oil I twice a day I pressed quite hard with thumbs along either side of scar with small circular movements you can feel.all the lumpy scar tissue but over time it really does loosen it I'm. 13 week.pre op now and I still do it daily I went back to gym 2 week ago and went on bike ( I haven't got one at home but wish I had) first couple of times I couldn't do full circle on upright bike but could on reclining bike then I was able to do it on upright bike and what a difference knee feels so much better I need other knee doing and have asked to put it on hold for 12 month as want to get back into swing of things at work and get this knee really good first but I will definitely be trying bike much much sooner x

I had my scar glued but after having dressing taken off I covered the scar with cling film in the shower and used bio oil. That is great so scars. Xx

hi christine i would not put bio oil or any other oil on it just yet i would be afraid to infect the wound what i did after 3 full openings and all i had the clips  i kept it dry for another few days till it looked fully closed having a shower i still used a plastic bag tied around it to keep it dry  other than that i did not cover the wound during the day  i think i waited a few weeks before i put bio oil on it i waited till the scabs were gone before using the oil no point in looking for trouble hope this helps

It took me awhile to even LOOK at my incision! I obviously KNEW it was there, but I was quite squeamish about it.

I had Home Care which was a nurse and a physical therapist. They did dressing changes and wrapping my leg back up. I did NOT look at my incision until I was two weeks out from surgery and my nurse was taking my staples OUT. Even then, the concept of an incision THAT LONG kind of creeped me out!

After my staples came out the nurse did not put bandages back on. I had no bleeding or oozing, and everything looked good. I STILL felt kind of reluctant to look at it for long.

I showered as soon as my staples came out. My nurse said to just let warm water run over the incision site.

I shaved my legs for the first time in three weeks! I was VERY, VERY CAREFUL not to get near the scar, so shaving took awhile with me putting shaving cream on a small section then shaving it and then moving to the next section.

After my first shower I put Johnson's Baby Cream on my scar. I was VERY gentle and still a bit squeamish touching it.

I wore my softest Capri pants which covered my scar. I guess I felt I still needed to protect it!

I rub the Johnson's Baby Cream into the scar every morning and evening. Yesterday I was at Walgreen's Drug Store and got some scar gel. I put that on for the first time last night.

Last week at seven weeks post op I FINALLY shaved OVER MY SCAR! Very scary for me to do because I didn't want to accidentally cut anything open! My shaving was a success, thank goodness!

I can tell that as I rub in more creams, wash my scar with circular movements with siap and washcloth, and just TOUCH IT MORE OFTEN, that it is feeling smoother and less bumpy.

In about five weeks I have a TKR scheduled on my RIGHT KNEE, so I think LEFT KNEE will be good to go as THE GOOD KNEE by then.

As far as promoting healing of my wound, I just ran water over it and let it be. I only added creams after my PT said to, and that was about a week after I completed Home Care , so three weeks post op.

Our bodies heal well if we just LET THEM!

Oh, another thing I did after coming home from the hospital was take my temperature several times a day. I wanted to catch any possible infection QUICKLY. (I can have a temp. of 102 without even realizing it, so I can't count on how I "feel" to tell me if my temp. is elevated!) Taking my temperature helped me to monitor myself which kept me CALM about any weird stuff happening with infection.

You will notice changes, and you will FEEL changes with your scar. Keep it clean, rub in creams, time heals.

Best to you!

Hi Christine - I am 6 weeks post op and have showered since day 2. I got fed up with wrapping my leg up in kitchen film (looked like a cucumber) but bought a sleeve with pull cords top and bottom from Boots for £4.99. Problem solved. Stay positive.