six months post-placement

normal

by Tracey_E - 2017-06-25 12:22:25

Totally normal! Keep the scar moisturized and out of the sun. Doesn't matter much what you use as long as it's all natural- aloe, vitamin e, coconut oil. I got that advice from a plastic surgeon when I asked about fancier solutions. She said she'd be willing to sell it to me, but really it just needs to not be dry. 

It can take up to a year for it to totally settle in, for the scar tissue to build up around it and get numb. Try not to limit your activity, that just makes it worse. Use the arm normally. If it gets irritated, ice helps. If it's not comfortable by a year, you can consider having it repositioned. They moved mine closer to my armpit this last time (I'm on #5) and 15 months later it still pulls depending on what I'm doing at the gym or how I'm sleeping. It's not painful, just a tugging sensation. Annoying, but not annoying enough to have another surgery to move it.

Six months later and even longer

by Gotrhythm - 2017-06-25 15:19:26

Scar tissue is much less flexible than the natural tissue surrounding it. You have the scar tissue you can see at the incision site, but you also have more scar tissue on the inside holding the pacemaker in place in the "pocket" and tethering the leads in position in the heart.

Scar tissue can continue to form for as much as a year. Some pulling is not only normal, it is to be expected.

Tracey is right. Moving and gently strecthing the area where scar tissue is will be the key. The less you stretch it, the stiffer and more painful it will be.

As for itching. I had occasional itching for 4 or 5 years post implanting--never severe, ususally just for a day or two at a time with months in between. It felt like it was deep inside. I learned that scratching, not on the pacemaker but on the chest beside it, would relieve the itch. That probably worked because I was producing a counter-irritant,confusing the brain so that it couldn't tell which sensation to respond to, and allowing the irritated nerves to relax. Ice, or even a cool compress would probably work as well.

Totally normal

by AddieJ - 2017-06-25 23:04:24

It may be better after a yea but I'm always aware of mine.  And thankful for it.

Very Normal

by TBrous&Chip - 2017-06-26 06:14:32

Over 1 year and I always know it is there.  Not a bad feeling since it is keeping alive .

The pm site area does feel better when I exercise.