Q: My stretch mark split open during breast aug. Any suggestions?
I got 425cc saline under the muscle, areola incision 7 days ago. I saw my surgeon today to get my stitches out and he informed me that during surgery, a small stetch mark on the left breast “gave out” and he had to stitch it up. Is this possible? Ever since I woke up from surgery, this breast has been more painful and swollen then the other. I’m concerned that my surgeon is not being honest with me regarding this complication.
A: Stretch marks are weakened skin! -Good wound care to allow for healing !
My suggestion is to do very good wound care to allow them to heal well and reduce the scarring. I find that keeping the wound moist and preventing a scab will allow for the fastest and best healing. The breast augmentation may be causing the breast tissue and skin to be compressed and thus reduce the blood supply to the area. Therefore, the healing may be delayed until the blood supply has adjusted and reestablished itself. Do not worry if it takes longer than you would expect to heal because if the blood supply is compromised by the surgery, it will take typically 2-3 weeks for the blood supply to get to it’s baseline robustness. Once this happens, if the wound is still open you will see a very dense rid tissue that fills in the wound which is called granulation tissue. Once this fills in the wound will suddenly close up and heal well. This is assuming your blood supply is limited. During this time I have found that if the person does not have an allergy to sulfa that using an ointment like Silvadene cream and wet saline compresses are ideal to keep the wound from desiccating and scabbing so that the newly developing blood supply does not get compromised. I also really like using Tegaderms to prevent desiccation and allow the skin cells to grow across. This can be used when there is no oozing and also allows the for the wound to be protected from water exposure, which is not possible with a traditional bandaid or bandage.