Hi everyone...hope everyone was able to enjoy the holidays....I am 2 months pre-op from the decompression(I had a 20mm herniation) and I also had a menningioma brain tumor removed from the vacinity of the brain stem....My inscision although the doctors say looks good to me it still looks very swollen espicially towards the bottom of it. It does not huirt and there isnt any leakage, I just worry about infection...anyone know how long it takes to competely heal?...and also how long does it take to get my strength back? I do 1 hour of PT 3x a week and it kicks my butt. Everyone keeps telling me its only been 2 months but I thought Id feel better by now. I am hoping to return to work part time in 2 weeks.
I am 11 weeks post-op and find that sometimes my incision kind of sticks out farther than others. I wouldn't really say it's swollen but the skin feels tighter and it just protrudes a bit more. Other times it's completely flat. Not sure if this is similar to what you are experiencing or not. I'm going to ask the doctor about it at my appointment next week but since it's not red, tender, or hot I think it's ok....
It would be unusual to have an infection occur months post-operatively. Most are found within the first few weeks.
The swelling many of you seem to be describing is most likely muscular in nature. Specifically, when we do the operation, we separate the posterior cervical muscles(the ones on the back of your neck) along the linea alba(the white line that is an avascular plane between the right and the left. the deep stitches we put in last 6-8 weeks before they dissolve. We try our best to re-approximate the muscles in a position similar to their pre-operative position but there is often a little assymmetry(one side is not always put back exactly right(there are no "lines" to line up) so one side of the muscle may be a little higher or lower than the other(and since the muscles feather out until their attachement to the skull, a centimeter up or down can lead to what looks like swelling but is actually the muscle being a little thicker on one side or the other)). That can cause some additional discomfort with cervical range of motion but will slowly improve(usually over months).
Just picture the muscles lining up, but just not as perfectly as they were pre-operatively. After further healing, they will find their appropriate spot(or ongoing movement will compensate for any slight change in position).