Severe Scar Tissue Pain

[Amy Elizabeth 1]

I'm about 5-6 weeks out from my lap band date and I was doing fantastic up until about 2 weeks ago. . .I started getting some major pain right over my port. I've been back to my docs to figure it out and they said it's scar tissue. It hurts so bad sometimes I can't breathe or walk. Heating pads make it feel better but I can't live my life attached to my heating pad.

Has anyone had this problem? Any solutions? I'm at a loss.

[ParrotheadCathy 0]

Didn't your doctor offer any information on how he would handle it if that were the case? For that matter, didn't he offer to to anything about the pain that is very "now and in your face"??? I'm no expert but I'm thinking it might be similar to when a breast implant gets "encapsulated". For that, they often do a revision surgery. Call back and tell them that an explanation did not take the pain away and you want to know what he is going to do! Dang doctors. You have to be your own advocate. Ask lots of questions, demand answers, demand an explanation of what he can do to ameliorate the situation.

[Amy Elizabeth 1]

It was the Doctor's nurse that examined me. (She's the one that does the fills and such) She told me it would eventually go away but it just seems to get worse and everything i read on the internet makes me worry that it'll never go away. lol (Google is a dangerous thing). She said eventually I would feel a strong burning sensation and that it would loosen after that. (Which is when the adhesion that has evidently formed would be letting go. . .) I've been stretching hoping to get there faster but so far no luck.

[RestlessMonkey 7]

Adhesions are always possible after surgery, but something we aren't really told much about. It's why I slept on my stomach etc from the start; to keep things stretched and to prevent abnormal, well, "joining" of tissues! That won't help you now but may help some newbies...

ANYWAY even with that adhesions can form and unfortunately there isn't too much to be done but what you are doing. Even surgery to correct usually just makes MORE scar tissue! Just use whatever (heating pad etc) you can and work the dickens out of it.

[Amy Elizabeth 1]

I've found that exercise and stretching help a bit. But once it starts it stays hurting until I get to a heating pad. Then it lets up for 30 to 40 minutes and starts again.

Tonight when I went to the gym I could barely walk in but I managed to do my whole workout with only a bit of discomfort in the beginning. Think I may start swimming. That seems like it'd stretch everything in there in a good way.

I'm pretty discouraged about this. I hate to think that I did all this to get healthy and be more active and then end up in pain for the rest of my life from the scar tissue.

[RestlessMonkey 7]

As the nurse told you, usually if you just stick with it and work it, it will resolve. You're doing the right thing; and people get them...we just don't realize that we scar internally almost like we scar on the outside, and when we scar, things can pucker and be tight.

[ShrinkyDink 0]

I had the exact same thing. Sometimes it was so bad I couldn't even turn myself over in bed, the pain took my breath away. My doctor checked everything out to be sure it wasn't a hernia or something of the sort, decided it was scar tissue and a port stitch pulling too hard against where it was attached and did another surgery through the same incision and clipped the bit of scar tissue causing the problem. It was instantly better, I woke up with the pain completely gone. Surgery took about 20 minutes and since it was just under the skin and didn't involve cutting muscle I was barely even sore.

Hope this helps, don't let up on him until he helps you feel better, you shouldn't have to go around in pain like that.