natural rememdies to help incision heal

[P.J.]

I had a cesarean four weeks ago. The incision is healing just fine, but it still is uncomfortable under my underwear and it's hard to wear the baby in the wrap for very long, and also during breastfeeding sometimes, as the pressure from my belly on the incision starts to hurt.

So, I was thinking I could maybe find some kind of natural remedy to help accelerate the healing. I have been only rinsing it with warm water in the shower every day (as recommended by the docs at the hospital). But is there anything I can put on it, or tea I can drink, or vitamins or herbs or anything to make the healing go a bit faster? We have zinc ointment, and I know zinc helps skin heal, but the ointment seems like it would cut off air supply.

Could any of you mamas recommend something that you used that helped your incision heal? Thanks!

p.s. I'd also be interested to hear how long it took before the discomfort / pain went totally away?

[sharr610]

My midwife suggested Calendula Gel that worked GREAT for me. It was able to allow air to flow. Also, if you have any bit of a belly fold, sometimes you can put on the gel and then a clean piece of cloth on top and with your underwear it should stay put and help keep things dryer and easier to heal.

. I healed up pretty quickly with that(was out and about and dressing myself at about 2 weeks post surgery). Good luck!

[neveryoumindthere]

I read honey was good for healing incisions, and also black seed oil, you can just google it.

[wombatclay]

Honey, vitamin e oil, aloe gel, sunning the scar, and scar massage! Those were all wonderful topical/outside healing tools.

Deeper healing came from upping the protein in my diet (to support tissue healing), RRL tea, EPO, belly dance, and meditation. The OBs I saw with my first vbac felt that c/s and other trauma cause the body to "shut down" those areas a bit out of self-preservation. So they recommend things like belly dance, chakra meditation, and gentle yoga positions to help stretch the muscles, increase blood flow to the pelvic muscles/organs, and re-integrate the body.

And I remember feeling pretty much ok at 8 weeks pp, but not really back to "normal" till closer to 4-5 months pp. I continued to do scar massage for the first year and if I had another c/s I'd try maya massage and chiropractic as soon as the incision healed.

[number572]

Have you tried hydrocolloid bandages? I had a nasty puncture wounds on my torso that I dealt with for several weeks, couldn't stand clothing touching it, wasn't healing fast at all, even tho I tried everything from honey to E to sea salt soaks, etc etc etc. Miserable! Then I discovered hydrocolloid bandages (CVS or Walgreen's or online..). They totally cover the skin/scab so that clothing doesn't bother at all. And they're waterprrof so you can wear them thru showers. The pain I was feeling went almost completely away, since air was no longer hitting the wounds. They're pricey but you leave them on for several days. I have almost no scars on the wounds that I covered that were larger... but I do have a very visible scar on the smaller parts of the wounded area that I figured I didn't need to cover. When you use them, its normal for them to puff up & look whitish, and they still get kind of itchy, just like an exposed scab... and when you go to remove them, they peel off, like a sticker but don't remove the scabs. I was so afraid that it would hurt or cause damage b'c of the whole "stuck to the skin" concept, but it didn't & all I felt was the pressure of the sticker coming off, no wound sensation at all, just pressure from peeling.

Anyway, thought I'd mention it b'c it saved my sanity as I'd been literally in tears over the discomfort. It took about 3 weeks of covering the wounds for them to heal all the way but they're awesome! I don't know how "natural" they are or if they're poo-poo'd or loved here on mdc, but they were the last resort that turned into a godsend for me. I'm still a huge fan of all natural topicals but this wound had me on my knees, glad I found them b'c I had never heard of them & was so desperate.

Geez, I rambled again... I was just so relieved to find them! Sorry you're suffering, hope you find something that works so you can heal soon.

edit b'c I said "puncture wounds" but they were areas that had to be cut open surgically & then some of them had a stitch or two & some were'nt wide enough to require a stitch, just clarifying that they were incision-type of wounds.