Wound care after your heart surgery

Wound care after your heart surgery -

Take care of yourself at home, especially any injury you had during surgery is an important part of your recovery heart surgery. Your heart surgery may have been performed through an incision in your breastbone or sternum, or you can have an incision on the side of your chest.

Taking care of yourself after Incisions

To take care of yourself after one of those types of incisions, please do the following:

• Breathe through your nose as you lift your arms during activity
• Breathe through. your mouth as you lower your arms. Do not hold your breath.
• You can raise your arms above your head to brush or shampoo your hair. Be careful when you achieve. The sternum and the surrounding muscles can be very painful for some time.
• Do not lift anything heavier than 5 pounds for four weeks after surgery.
• You should not push or pull with your arms, especially when rising from a chair or bed
• assistive devices such as canes or walkers, must be used for balance. Do not put your weight on one of these devices until the incision is completely healed (ten to twelve weeks).

Keep Incision Clean and Dry

It is very important to keep the incision clean and dry. Follow these guidelines:

• daily shower. Do not take a bath for four weeks or until your doctor says you can.
• Wash your incisions with an antimicrobial soap and water. Always use a clean washcloth.
• Do not put creams, lotions or ointments antibiotics on incisions.
• Keep your legs raised when sitting for over 15 minutes.
• do not wear tight clothing that can rub against your incisions

normal symptoms

The following symptoms are normal and should clear up within two to three weeks .:

• black and blue skin around the incisions or redness at the edges of the incision.
• Tenderness, swelling, numbness or itching along the incision.
• A small amount of clear or pinkish drainage from the incision.

abnormal symptoms

If you have any of the following symptoms, call your surgeon immediately:

• Redness that spreads over an inch from the edges of the incision
• increased heat in the skin around the incision
• Much amount of clear or pinkish drainage.
• Sudden increased amount of drainage.
• white, yellow or green drainage with an odor that can be rough or smooth, from the incision.
• Increased swelling, tightness or pain around the incision.
• Fever over 101 ° F (38.3 ° C), chills, or 99 ° F (37.2 ° C) to 100.9 ° F (38.27 ° C) for more than three days

to learn more about heart surgery at UPMC, visit our What to Expect: cardiac surgery .. book

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