Hi I had a clipping surgery 13 years ago. Now i am finding that the scar pulls and hurts as the years go on the pulling gets worst has anyone else experience these pains around the scar area ? If freaks me out and send y anxiety so high
1 Like
Hey Patti,
Yes, this has also been an issue for me too. They, the medicos, called it ‘An adhesion’. It was explained to me that cells which normally hold the scalp together have been cut and stapled back together. In joining them back some external scalp cells have been placed internally and some internal nerve cells have been placed externally. This is why initially my scalp/scar was EXTREMELY sensitive as those nerves were now exposed.
Similarly, those cells which normally hold the scalp together have been forced internally, but they are still trying to naturally join up and often they join onto the skull, causing the adhesion. For some people the body identifies that it’s joined in the wrong place and stops the adhesion naturally, but for others the adhesion can continue and by the time it’s identified it hasn’t just joined up, it’s firmly welded itself in place. Personally, I find the changes in temperatures the worst, especially the cold, as my scalp constricts and pulls at the scar/adhesion.
The medicos did not at seem too concerned ‘Ohh, it’s only your scalp…it’s not your brain…’ but it was painful and of a concern to me. They told me that if it did not settle they may need to operate and manually separate the adhesion BUT in doing so there was no guarantee that the adhesion would not reoccur. I spoke to a skin specialist who gave me a salve for the scar, which softened the external scar and (I believe) assisted in lessening the adhesion.
I would strongly recommend you speak to both your surgeon AND a skin specialist, someone who knows about post neurosurgical skin care and please let us know how it all goes as this is an issue for many neuro patients.
Merl from the Modsupport Team
1 Like