Can a seroma feel hard?

What is a Seroma? A seroma is a build-up of straw-coloured bodily fluids in an area where tissue has been removed at surgery. The fluid can make the area feel hard and this can become uncomfortable.

Are seromas hard to the touch?

The seroma feels hard. The seroma is hot to the touch. The skin over the seroma appears red or exhibits any other change in color.

Why does a seroma get hard?

A clear discharge from the surgical incision is common when a seroma is present. You may have an infection if the discharge becomes bloody, changes color, or develops an odor. In rare cases, a seroma may calcify. This will leave a hard knot in the seroma site.

Can a seroma get hard?

Seromas can form shortly after surgery if drains are not used, and they may also occur after removal of a drain. Small seromas often resolve on their own, although left untreated, they can calcify, forming hard knots. Larger seromas often require aspiration (removal of fluid), generally accomplished with a needle.

How do you get rid of a hard seroma?

Take over-the-counter pain medication for any discomfort or inflammation. If a seroma or seromas do develop, you can apply heat to the area for 15 minutes every few hours. This can help the seroma drain and ease discomfort. If the seroma does not go away on its own, your doctor can drain it or surgically remove it.

What is a Seroma? | Fluid Build Up After Surgery | Symptoms and Treatment | Dr. Daniel Barrett

Why is it hard under my incision?

A seroma is a sterile collection of fluid under the skin, usually at the site of a surgical incision. Fluid builds up under the skin where tissue was removed. It may form soon after your surgery. Or it may form up to about 1 to 2 weeks after surgery.

How does a seroma feel?

A seroma may cause symptoms at the site of your surgery, including the following: a balloon-like swelling of the skin. ‌a feeling of liquid or obvious movement under the skin.

Will calcified seroma go away?

The good news is that, unless the seroma becomes huge & debilitating (which is rare) it will eventually calcify & slowly break down. It takes a long time, mine was 8 months before it had completely disappeared, but it hasn't returned since (that was 9 years ago).

Does compression help seroma?

Compressing the abdominal area (and typically using a drain as well) can help to prevent a seroma from forming. The compression garment should be worn for about 3 to 6 weeks, depending on your surgeon's instructions.

What does an infected seroma look like?

If the seroma is large in size, the area surrounding it may become inflamed and painful. If the seroma becomes infected, it may appear red and feel very tender and warm to the touch. Infected seromas often lead to the formation of an abscess, or a collection of pus.

How do you speed up seroma reabsorption?

Increasing the circulation to the healing area will often help to reduce the swelling. The fluid will be reabsorbed into the blood stream faster and the increased blood flow will bring oxygen and nutrients to the newly forming tissue. Heat is an excellent way to increase circulation to an area.

When Should a seroma be aspirated?

In some cases, if there is an excessive amount of fluid, the seroma is very painful or it is putting a strain on the stitch line from surgery, it may have to be drained and this is called a seroma aspiration. This involves inserting a needle under the skin and attaching it to a syringe to aspirate the fluid.

Can a seroma get bigger?

A doctor or nurse can drain the fluid to help you feel better. Make sure to tell your health care team if the bulge hurts, makes you feel sick, or gets bigger. Although it doesn't happen very often, seromas can lead to an infection.

What is the difference between seroma and hematoma?

A seroma contains serous fluid. This is composed of blood plasma that has seeped out of ruptured small blood vessels and the inflammatory fluid produced by injured and dying cells. Seromas are different from hematomas, which contain red blood cells, and abscesses, which contain pus and result from an infection.

Is scar tissue a hard lump?

What are keloids? When skin is injured, fibrous tissue called scar tissue forms over the wound to repair and protect the injury. In some cases, extra scar tissue grows, forming smooth, hard growths called keloids. Keloids can be much larger than the original wound.

Does seroma lead to lymphedema?

Symptomatic seroma is associated with increased risk of developing lymphedema symptoms following breast cancer treatment. Patients who develop symptomatic seroma should be considered at higher risk for lymphedema symptoms and receive lymphedema risk reduction interventions.

Does exercise help seroma?

Delaying exercises significantly decreases seroma formation (OR=0.4; 95%CI 0.2-0.5; p=0.00001). No significant differences were found for drainage volume or hospital stay. Conclusion: Current evidence from RCTs supports the use of a delayed program of arm exercises to reduce seroma formation.

Is seroma a lymph?

Other health experts say the fluid in a seroma represents a mix of lymph and serum. During surgery, doctors may place tubes in your wound to drain off excess fluid. Seromas often result after these drains have been taken out.

Can you drain your own seroma?

Most seromas can be reabsorbed into your body, sometimes it can take almost a month. However, in severe cases it can take a year and you may experience hardening once the seroma heals. Manual lymphatic drainage is the most recommended treatment by surgeons to prevent and drain seromas without a medical intervention.

What is a seroma cavity?

Seroma is a serous fluid collection that accumulates in dead spaces, where tissue was attached to something before surgery. Abdominal seroma formation is a quite common complication after breast reconstruction with abdominal's flaps or after an abdominoplasty procedure.

Why is there a hard lump under my surgical scar?

Why does my scar feel lumpy? You may feel bumps and lumps under the skin. This is normal and is due to the dissolvable sutures under the surface of the skin. These deep sutures take months to completely dissolve and the scar will not be smooth until this time.

Why is my scar hard and lumpy?

When the skin is wounded, the tissues break, which causes a protein called collagen to be released. Collagen builds up where the tissue is damaged, helping to heal and strengthen the wound. New collagen continues forming for several months and the blood supply increases, causing the scar to become raised and lumpy.

How often can a seroma be drained?

Traditionally, common treatment encompasses aspiration of the seroma with a syringe and a 14- to 18-gauge needle, performed once or twice a week, and a local compressive bandage.

How much should a seroma drain?

Clinical treatment of seromas is usually performed by repeated evacuation by means of suction using an appropriately sized syringe (usually 10-50 mL in volume) according to the amount of fluid to be evacuated [2].

Can a seroma cause nerve pain?

Much like any space-occupy- ing lesion, a seroma can result in nerve root compression causing symptoms of pain and neurological deficits. Addition- ally, arachnoiditis could also lead to neurologic symptoms such as pain and radiculopathy.