Anchor lift breast incision is causing extreme pain. Any suggestions?

Question

I had an anchor lift with a breast augmentation about 5 weeks ago I have been having healing problems with the intersection healing but have been told is normal my problem now is that the crease incision in the edge is causing me extreme pain it's sharp and a burning pain certain movements cause the pain and it's absolutely unbearable I don't have a fever nor is the skin hot so I don't believe it's infected not sure what it could be.

Darryl J. Blinski, MD · Answer

After 5 weeks having the amount of described pain is very unusual. What has your surgeon told you?? I would recommend in person second opinions from boarded PSs in your area. This could be related to the incision/scar formation and its maturation. Follow up would be nice...

Randall Weil, MD (retired) · Answer

The area which there is problem healing is a very common area for problems for patients with an anchor lift. The size can be anywhere from a small pearl size to a quarter or even a fifty cent piece size.  Any open wound such as this is painful.  The best way is to cover with antibiotic ointment and then place a bandage.  If any of the open tissue is covered with a layer of antibiotic ointment, it seems to significantly decrease the discomfort.  It also takes anywhere from two to four weeks depending on the size for these areas to decrease and completely seal.

Thomas M. DeWire Sr., MD (retired) · Answer

ashr,Lots of times pain associated with open healing wounds is aggravated by wound drying, which also slows the healing.  These sorts of wounds are encountered by every Plastic Surgeon, sooner, or later, and there are a number of ways to manage them, and some of those methods speed healing, and can relieve discomfort as well.  Let your surgeon know you are having this much discomfort, stop any activity that can delay healing, or increase pain, such as smoking, and ask about use of wet dressing changes with fine mesh, gauze, if that is not what you are already doing.   Maintaining a moist environment promotes the healing, and use of a wet fine mesh gauze dressing allows serum that exudes to be trapped in the mesh of the gauze, where it is easily removed with each dressing change (usually twice a day), also lifting away any debris or germs that have built up, lowering the germ count and lessening the inflammation. It important to never let the gauze against the wound dry out, as then it sticks to and tears the fragile regenerating skin cells.  I hope that this helps. I know that this sort of would after breast reduction or mastopexy can be quite disheartening until it resolves.  Best wishes,

Anchor lift breast incision is causing extreme pain. Any suggestions?

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Anchor lift breast incision is causing extreme pain. Any suggestions?

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Everything you need to know about Breast Augmentation

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.