I'm 3 weeks post c-section and my scar/incision site is looking worse and worse. 
At one week post-op there was just a thin line where the skin met. Now the area looks like it's healed, but it's dark red around it and I feel like it's getting darker and bigger. Is this normal? Is there any way to stop it from getting worse?
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It sounds like the scar tissue is starting to form under it. Are you having any pain that's worsening around the incision or oozing? I think it's pretty normal for it to get darker as it heals. I'm 20 months post 2nd C-section, and you can barely see mine now. You're only 3 weeks, and it really needs time to heal. I'd let it do that, and then 8 weeks post C-section, it should be starting to fade already.
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@2PeasinaPod: it is feeling "thicker" like it has substance which is probably the scar tissue. No oozing or extra pain. It definitely looks like it's healing even though it's getting redder...
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@JennyPenny: Keep in mind that your doc had to go through multiple layers to get the baby out. So you've got scar tissue forming for not only the layers of skin, but the muscle and fat they cut through as well as your uterus. That's a lot to cut through in order to get that babe out!
My second incision reopened 2 weeks out, and I have a bit more of a bump on that side if I press on it from additional scar tissue. Other than that...2 years postpartum, you won't be able to tell...trust me! Once you're a little further out, you could also use Mederma to help to fade the scar as well.
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This is so weird, but DH and I were just talking about this last night! Obviously I'm a lot farther out from my c-section than you are (since it was T), but I noticed last night that my c-section scar now is keloided. It definitely didn't look like that in the beginning and I can't really figure out when it started to look so... ugly? Either way, as DH pointed out no one but him (and me) sees it anyways.
I do think it's normal for the scar to become more prominent as the various levels of skin start scarring. That's what causes the raising, I think. My scar has also darkened with time. Again, not sure when this occurred and literally just noticed how ugly it was last night when I happened to be looking at it.
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My physio recommended once it's healed and not painful to start massaging the scar daily in little cirlces to help break up the scar tissue and keep it from adhering.
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Thanks everyone - sounds like maybe it's too early to put much stock in how it looks/will look.
@LBee: I think I've read that scars can start looking worse when you get pregnant again. Maybe that's what's going on with yours?
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Definitely too early to tell what it will look like at this point. Mine went through phases of looking more angry and then healing more cleanly. And I also had a part open and drain a little and had a skin infection there in the first week pp. I did a bit of massage maybe starting around 8/10 weeks pp. By the time I got pregnant again at 13 months pp it was a barely noticeable thin red line.
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@JennyPenny: I'm hoping this is the case because it's straight up ugly.
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@JennyPenny: it sounds normal. Mine did the same thing with my second. I was actually pretty depressed about it because my incision after my first looked so good. It was pretty dark and raised, like you could feel the scar tissue underneath. Now at 11 month pp it looks almost exactly the same as my incison did after my first. Give it time!
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@Purpledaisy: eek! I hope I have the same luck as you after a second surgery. My scar got a bit red in this pregnancy early on and I'm kind of vain and don't want to be reopened because it looked so good before I got pregnant....
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Do you have keloids? What you describe sounds like that, my mom has them. It's just how she heals
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I am actually prone to keloids but for some reason the scar tissue that formed in both previous CS incisions has resolved by 6 months to a year post partum. In a previous (non CS) surgery I did get keloids that were helped a lot by cortisone injections and light therapy. Given the location of CS incisions I don't know if I would have spent that $ (that's pretty individual though), but for the big keloid scar I had on my back I felt like it was worth it.
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