Is redness around a surgical incision normal?

Written by WISH Clinic

Clinically reviewed by Dr. Traci A. Kimball, MD, MBA

Last medical review

Wounds in general are slightly swollen, red or pink, and tender for about 2 to 5 days. With a surgical incision, though, more redness or worsening redness is a reason to contact your surgeon.

This is one of the questions where the answer is less reassuring than people hope, and it is better to say so than to soften it.

Redness is part of ordinary healing in general. Once the scab forms and the immune system begins protecting the wound, the wound becomes slightly swollen, red or pink, and tender. This stage takes about 2 to 5 days.

Surgical incisions are treated more carefully. More redness or pain around the incision is one of the changes to contact your surgeon about. For an open surgical wound, the wording is the same: more redness, pain, swelling or bleeding at the wound site. With wet-to-dry dressings, the warning sign is worsening redness.

The key word in all three is a comparison. More. Worsening. Not redness itself, but redness that is increasing.

That is a usable distinction, and it is the one to take away. An incision that has looked slightly pink since the day it was made matches the general description of healing. An incision that is redder today than yesterday is the thing to report to your surgeon.

Wound Wizard can’t tell you how much redness is acceptable, or how far from the incision it may extend. If you are measuring redness against a memory of how it looked, that is a reason to ask rather than to wait. The people who closed the incision know what they expected it to look like.

What to watch for

Contact your surgeon if there are any of these changes around the incision: more redness or pain; swelling or bleeding; the wound is larger or deeper; the wound looks dried out or dark.

Redness rarely travels alone. Also contact your surgeon about drainage that increases or becomes thick, tan, green or yellow, or smells bad. For a closed surgical wound, the temperature figure is above 100°F (37.7°C) for more than 4 hours.

If you are unsure whether redness has increased, a photograph taken now gives you something to compare against tomorrow. That is a practical suggestion, not clinical advice.

Wound Wizard is general education and cannot assess your incision. Your surgeon is the right person to ask.

What we look at

  • Examining the incision and the skin around it
  • Comparing it against how it was expected to look
  • Checking for infection
  • Deciding whether treatment needs to change

Related questions

Sources

  1. Surgical wound care - closed — MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000738.htm
  2. Surgical wound care - open — MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000040.htm
  3. How wounds heal — MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000741.htm
Non-healing wound care at The WISH Clinic

The Wish Clinic®

DISCLAIMER: The content provided on this website is for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional diagnosis, treatment, or medical advice. There is no assurance or warranty regarding the accuracy and applicability of the content. Never ignore professional medical advice in seeking treatment because of something you have read on the website. If you think you may have a medical emergency, immediately call your doctor or emergency service.