Healing after flap surgery?

[cathy]

Heyo!

I had surgery to remove a pilonidal cyst about 6 weeks ago. It was the surgery with skin flaps by a plastic surgeon. He said after the stitches came out that I should take it easy for a couple of weeks (i.e. no running).

It's been about four weeks since then and although I can walk and do most things normally I still experience a fair bit of discomfort when I move any faster than a brisk walk or when I try to jump up and down, even when I lean back too far in my chair. I tried to have a look at the wound in the mirror and it sort of looks a bit different and the top than the bottom.

Is this normal? I'm a bit concerned because I usually dance a couple of times a week and I haven't been able to since all of this

Thanks!

[Steven]

Hi,

Activity in the first two weeks after plastic surgery needs to be quite low so that the wound stitching remains intact and doesn't break down. After those two weeks, when the wound is effectively healed, it won't usually be possible to resume full activity for a while, and that's very normal considering that the area has physically undergone so much significant change. It's difficult to say how long it will take before you can start dancing etc again. It obviously varies a lot depending on each wound. I think it could take between a few months and a year. One of the things you can try which might help is to apply something like E45 cream to the area, especially any scar lines, as that will gradually soothe the skin. Unfortunately the main thing which will definitely help is time, as it can take a while for the nerve endings to readjust.