Question:
I'm oozing from my incision.
I had an arm lift almost two weeks ago and I noticed that under both arms (more so from the left), I'm doing some oozing from my incision. The incision on the left is red in some spots and towards the end of the day there is this thick I guess yellowish to clear substance on it. I'm not sure if it is pus. There is no bad smell to it and I don't have a fever. I was on antibiotics the first week and had the oozing even then. The doctor looked at it and said everything is fine, but he didn't see the oozing because it takes a while before it builds up. (It's not much at all really.) I was just wondering if this was normal. I thought maybe it was slow healing because the incision is rubbing there under my arm. Everywhere else the incision looks good. Also, the doctor has told me not to use deodorant. He said he took out "everything" (not sure what he meant) and I don't need it, but I'm sorry its been warm and I think that I do. Is there anything else I could use instead? Would antibacterial ointment help? — Lisa N M. (posted on March 13, 2004)
March 12, 2004
I had the same thing from my TT incisions and I had really bad yellowish
puss coming from my drain tube sites and I was scared it was all infected
and when the PS looked at it he said it was perfectly normal and gave me
Bacitracin Zinc Ointment to put on everything and I never had any other
problems. Good luck!
— Sandy M.
March 14, 2004
Thin, straw-colored drainage is not infection. I had arm lift done in
January. My incisions were a little "crusty" at times. My surgeon
told me to soap and rinse the area daily in the shower. He also had me use
thin coat of antibiotic ointment on the incision lines twice a day. The
incisions healed nicely and are thinner than pencil lead. Now I apply
Vitamin E skin oil twice a day and gently massage the lines 3-4 times per
day. This helps fade the scar and minimize scar formation.
— Linda Dianne E.
March 14, 2004
Thanks for the answer. Linda, I've heard that sometimes Vitamin E oil can
make scars worse, so that may be something you should look into.
— Lisa N M.
March 20, 2004
hi hon hope your feel better, the oozing sounds normal. i think when the dr
said that he took everything out he was talking about the sweet glads that
we have under our arms,i am allergice to all under arm deoderents so this
was a real problem for years. i now use baking soda and baby powder mixed
together. us lightly it doesn't take much. (one box baking soda to one
large can baby powder mix together and us a poder puff to apply.) good luck
— Peggy R.
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