What Causes Severe Itching In Incision Site After Open Umbilical Hernia Surgery?

Posted on Sun, 27 Sep 2015

Sun, 27 Sep 2015 Answered on

Fri, 16 Oct 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I am about 10 days out from open umbilical hernia surgery. The itch is so intense I'm in tears. Please tellm e there is a way to get thru this and that it is only temporary.

Answered by Dr. Grzegorz Stanko (21 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
This is only temporary situation.

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Thank you for the query.

Well, itching is a very common reaction which indicates healing. Due to increased blood flow through the wound/scar and injured tissues resorption nerves get irritated. This results with itching. Sometimes very intense.
This is temporal situation and should go away within a week or so. Icing it is the best you can do. You may also try to massage it (and scratch gently - you wont cause much injury) with special scar cream.

Hope this will help. Feel free to ask further questions.
Regards.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar