I already posted in this topic today about a different issue, but as I'm laying in bed my mind is just going a million miles per minute with worries!

If you haven't seen my last post, I got out of surgery about ten days ago.
I had a double mastectomy with Dr Megan Hassall.

While she's a great surgeon with a lot of recommendations I find her very hard to talk to so I find myself googling a lot of questions.
Today when I went in for my check up after surgery she had to leave to work on someone else and left me with a nurse instead.

I got my first look at my chest and while I knew the nipples would look pretty gross, it's still a bit of a shock to see them all scabbed and stuff!
I was hoping to hear from some of you about your experiences with your nipples after surgery.

How long was the healing process? How long until they looked at least semi-okay?
Was there anything you did or were told to do to help them out?
Is there anything I should be looking out for or worried about?

Another related question I had was about something the nurse did
She pulled off a bit of the scab to show my mum that it was pink underneath, and then she just sort of started picking off bits of the scab with some tweezers.
It was kind of uncomfortable and my nipples started to bleed before she stopped and put the silver square thing and dressing on top.
I guess this just struck me as weird because of the blood and because it's been ingrained into me that picking at scabs is really bad?
Is this like a normal thing for them to have done?
I have to see her again in a week and honestly it's got me a little worried...

OH
And it's not nipple related but as a side note the dressing they took off today was very tacky and sticky and my chest is still sticky
Anyone know how to get this excess tacky stuff off??


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My nips looked okay around a month post-op. They are still continuing to improve, and I am over four months post op. The only thing you should avoid is any kind of picking at them. Just leave them alone and let them do their thing. Ignore them if you can. I'm not sure why the nurse picked at them for you. My surgeon poked mine and attempted to move them to make sure that they weren't in danger of dying, and that was the only professional contact they had post-op.

Olive oil should help with the tacky stuff.

The more I think about the scab picking she did the more it bothers me :/

Thanks for the olive oil tip, I'll give It s try!


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It shouldn't affect quality too much. You can expect some bleeding, as they're still fresh. If big chunks were pulled off before they were ready, you'd probably get a cratering effect that will heal over time.

Thanks! That makes me feel a little better
You're very nice and seem pretty knowledgable, I don't know if it's against any rules to ask but would you mind checking out my other post in the top surgery category?
I had another question a while back but nobody has seen it and it's weighing in my mind a little!


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Yep, will take a look now.

Not to make light of your concern, but Nervous about Nipples sounds like an excellent band name or something XD

Nurses are kind of weird people, they are used to getting puked on and stabbing people with all kinds of medical supplies... She should have asked all the same.  It's kind of a healthcare thing I think- they are so used to having to show or do things that they occasionally act rude.  If the Doctor is hard to talk her, perhaps her staff are quirky as well?  As it is, you can politely ask someone to not do something like that if you have to go back!  Scabs are there to protect the skin, but maybe yours were looking good enough that they were okay to remove in her opinion.  I say leave them alone and let scabs fall off in their own time!  Unless something is starting to show signs of infection, you should be good to let things be