Had pacer replacement

Hello All, I had a pacemaker replacement on June 13th and I was just curious to know how many people had been cut in the same spot for their replacement as the first implant. My doctor cut me in the same place as my first pacer but this time around my scar looks horrible and my new pacer is much bigger and visible.

4 Comments

Two Scars

by MSPACER - 2011-07-12 09:07:52

I had my pacer replaced in Feb 2010, and the doctor cut below the old scar because the old pacemaker had dropped down a bit. If she cut in the same spot, she said that she would end up cutting the leads. Now I have two ugly scars! What can you do? Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure it will fade and heal up a little better in a few months.

surgeries

by Pookie - 2011-07-12 11:07:32

Hi Lisa:)

I'm still on my 1st pacemaker that I received on November 2 of 2004 (when I was 42) but I had to have the incision re-opened 4 times due to a lead that kept falling then a re-positioning of the pacemaker as it migrated into my armpit. All surgeries were performed in/on the original incision...take a look on the gallery = (just type in Pookie at the top and just my pictures will appear and you will see a picture of my scar.) Not bad after all those surgeries:)

Mine looked terrible too, but I heard if you put Vitamin E on it, the scar will fade a bit......but this is well after your incision has healed.

Give it some time - perhaps it will become less visible.

Pookie

Incision

by ElectricFrank - 2011-07-13 01:07:53

The cardio made a new incision just below the old one for replacement, but still in the same pocket. The first one from 2004 is hardly noticeable. I spend a lot of time in the sun without a shirt (no sunscreen) which tends to heal the incisions well. For some people the sun can make matters worse though. I'm surprised at how quickly I heal at 81 yrs.

frank

Scar treatment

by kermiehiho - 2011-07-16 07:07:39

I haven't had a replacement yet (and hope I won't have to for many years), but compared to some of the other pictures of scars in the gallery, mine is kind of wide and was pink, itchy, and raised for a while (didn't help that it is right under my bra strap).

I bought a bra strap cushion and positioned it over my scar to reduce irritation, bought scar silicone sheets from CVS, and started applying a lotion containing cocoa butter and shea butter. The silicone sheets are adhesive and can be worn up to 4 days. Those really seemed to help. My dermatologist said that some people sleep with their arm over a scar to apply pressure on it and flatten it out, so I think that the pressure of the bra cushion on it helped flatten it out, and the silicone sheet helped seal in the moisture from the lotion (I think I read that cocoa butter penetrates the skin layers particularly well). She has since said that I don't need to wear the silicone sheets anymore, since after 120 days, it's considered healed, but added that if I felt the scar was becoming raised, I could start using them again. I am still using the lotion with cocoa butter every night, and my scar seems to be gradually taking on a more flesh-toned color.

I did some research on Vitamin E, and it seems like it can cause contact dermatitis in some people. Since I have sensitive skin, I stayed away from that.

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I am just thankful that I am alive and that even though I have this pacemaker it is not the end of the world.