I was wondering if it is normal to have a lot of swelling after a selective neck dissection. I had it done a week ago tomorrow. They removed the neck drain yesterday morning and I have been lubing the scar and drain point with bacitracin. Today the swelling, which looks like I swallowed an apple on my left side is starting to move under my chin and swell on the right, above the incision point. My chin is turning red. I'm wondering if that is bruising. Just wondering if this is normal or a sign of infection. Any comments/suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks.

Hi there - swelling is usually very normal. They removed a drainage system from your neck. That's what you r lymph nodes do - the lymph system travels paralel to your circulatory system and cleans your blood prior to letting it go back into circulation. A sign of infection can be redness, (usually accompanied by tenderness, and heat) or maybe removed your drains a bit early - though usually its only a few days past surgery they remove them. Youre seeing your dr. Tuesday so you should be okay. Until you've healed and have built new pathways for the fluid to drain you will likely be swollen. See what your dr. Says tuesday then look into lymphatic massage and physio for your shoulder. Hugs!

Yep. Swelling is totally normal. Both sides of my neck looked like I didn't have a neck. Now it's only one side and I am 5 weeks post surgery.

I am trying to massage the fat parts, but its slow going....I'm working on my patience....also slow going!

Hi there,

Make sure you get bio-oil and a silicone based gel and massage it constantly as it may be scar tissue forming below the surface due to the surgery.

The massages help incredibly well with making the scars look non-visible, and will prevent from permanent scar tissue forming near the neck line.

Hope that helps.

I am curious about this bio-oil. Is it something the Dr. can prescribe?

You can buy it online... - hugs!

Or you can purchase it from your local pharmacy (or chemist since you are from the US!).

The silicone based gel is quite expensive but I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is looking to manage their scars.

"Chemists" in the US? That would be the UK, in the US, chemists are not pharmacists but actual chemistry scientists. The International flavor of OCF is fun

For what it's worth, my neck dissection scars have all but disappeared with just massage and regular moisturizer. They used to be quite prominent but are very hard to see now. I had never heard of bio oil so I did a quick Google search and it's a mineral oil based lotion with some herbal oils, vitamins and fragrances added (according to it's web site). It must be popular since it's sold in Walmart and on Amazon etc.. The reviews are mixed, especially for stretch marks, but it seems to fall out on those who liked the feel of mineral oil and those who did not.
Charm

Having been brought up in Atlanta till I was 10, then moving to New Zealand then onto Australia, I tend to get my "American" and "British" terms mixed up

I was visiting a friend in the hospital yesterday when my drain port burst and I became a draining, oozing mess. I went to the ER and they sent me back to Morristown where I've been since last night. I have a post-op infection. There was an abcess that burst. I actually had a fever but didn't know it because I had been taking Tylenol with codeine so it was low grade. Yesterday morning I didn't feel good either. Just grateful I was in a hospital when it burst and had already had antibiotics in my system. I'm on two antibiotics and probiotics for diarrhea. I am no longer in pain so I just take Benadryl because I'm reacting slightly to something. That stuff knocks me out. I also take Xanax because if I let myself go to that dark place, I just want to snap out of it. I just want to be as high as a Dead Head but haven't done that since college so I settle for pharmaceuticals. Does the trick.

This sucks sucks sucks sucks sucks!