3 months after appendectomy lower right abdominal pain

Posted by whovianstephy @whovianstephy, Feb 17 5:18pm

It's been three months since I had Emergency Surgery...the surgeon removed my appendix and part of my right colon.
The last two months I have been having really sharp pain on my lower right abdomen right above where the bend between the leg and tummy.
What could be causing this and have any of you guys had it.
Thanks

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pb50 | @pb50 | Feb 17 7:56pm

Any signs of infection like fever or sweating or chills? If so call your Doc. I don’t know anything about what could develop after removing part of a colon. But I suspect infection should be on the list of what to rule out. And based on other types of abdominal surgery I do have experience with, sometimes fleeting pains seem to accompany healing.

Sorry I’m not much help.

whovianstephy | @whovianstephy | Feb 18 10:03am

In reply to @pb50 "Any signs of infection like fever or sweating or chills? If so call your Doc. I..." + (show)

No fever or chills.

emo | @emo | Feb 18 1:35pm

As @pb50 mentioned, I agree you don’t feel signs of infection or a bowel blockage, it’s probably okay. But if you’re especially concerned about it, it never hurts to contact your doctor’s office to check?

I’m not familiar with a bowel surgery or appendectomy, but I have has a kidney removed. I can attest that intermittent pain (including sharp pain) was something I felt after healing. I had laparoscopic surgery. While it may take only a few weeks for the visible part of the scar on the skin to heal, I was told it takes a year for all the tissues to heal.

Another thing to consider that I wish they would have told me (but I now know most doctors don’t mention this or aren’t even aware of it) is the scarring can cause lifelong discomfort—not severe, but it can stick around. Years later, I went to a pelvic physical therapist for a different reason and she concluded my scarring was likely contributing to some of my pain. She explained that the tissue will build up on top of each other, and it doesn’t necessarily knit back together neatly, so it can tug on other tissues where it gets attached or restricted, causing pain that can be aching, pulling, or sharp.

She taught me scar massage techniques and desensitization that I know you could look up online. That helped me. There are different massage techniques to stretch the scar and break up the tough spots. I have altered sensation around my scars too, so the desensitization involves rubbing different texture fabric across my scar to help my brain re-learn that the texture is safe and eventually the pain is supposed to become less.

But I’m not sure how much time has to elapse before safely doing those techniques, so that’s something to just double-check if needed.