I’m just after a little advice. I need to remove a faulty xMagic that was implanted on 5th July as I plan on having the replacement implanted near the original sight (R0).
I’ve read on this post (X-series tag removal) that the saline method is easy(ish). Just wondering if anyone has experience of this who can give me any tips or stuff they wish they knew when they started.
Any advice what size needle to use? Obviously I like the sound of nice and small but also conscious that the implant needs to ‘ooze’ out of this incision like a spot being squeezed so it can’t be too small.
Also any ideas about the amount of saline to inject? I have access to steristrips (and sutures but won’t be able to suture one handed!), dressings and antibiotics if needed.
I plan to attempt this tomorrow, Friday or Tuesday. Please throw in any advice, ideas or tips. Thank you.
I hate to be that guy, but you should really just find a professional. Mine quoted 50-100 for a removal depending on difficulty, way better than even getting a small infection.
I have to say that a professional is the best option. For example, you might be thinking you could just buy some “sterile saline” for nose sprays or whatever and put that into a syringe and inject it, but non-USP saline isn’t guaranteed to be free of pyrogens.
In short, killing off bacteria through the sterilization process is no guarantee that the waste products of harmful bacteria excreted while still alive will also be rendered inert. In general, the harmful affects we feel from “harmful bacteria” are not from the bacteria’s presence what so ever, it’s from their waste products (bacteria poop)… we “get sick” from those, not the bacteria itself. That’s why cooking rotten meat / food “really well” still won’t save you from food poisoning. The bacteria is dead but in many cases, the harmful proteins and other substances they excreted while alive are still doing just fine in the food… and in large enough quantities that if you eat the food you will be affected, possibly even die from it if it’s really nasty stuff.
Generally available sterile saline that you can source is not filtered or processed in any way to ensure these pyrogens don’t exist… which is typically fine if you’re spraying out your eyes or nose because the chances of there being a significant amount of pyrogens - enough to affect your mucosa - is extremely low… but if you’re injecting even a small amount of pyrogenic molecules into your body, that’s a totally different “dosage concern”.
A regular family doc will have the medical USP grade saline and can do the procedure for super cheap.
That sounds great but things work a little differently in the UK. My general practitioner won’t just grab a scalpel and start hacking away at my hand (even though they do contraceptive implant removals all the time, which would be pretty similar!). They’d send me to A&E who would then either have a go or more likely refer me to the Hand Clinic. At every stage I’d be treated like a deviant and likely have ‘deliberate self harm’ coded on my medical notes. When I then want to apply for any job that needs medical and security clearance this will be an obstacle.
I went through it with Amal and he said it’s faulty.
I was planning on leaving it in as I thought I could use LF side but that won’t write so pretty pointless staying in and is blocking the way for the replacement I was sent.
When you add up the cost of the implant, two professional installs and now talk of paying £££ for private removal it’s all adding up. Baked beans for tea this month!
So todays planned procedure didn’t really go to plan. I was going to emla the area so I could hopefully get rid of reflexes triggered by pain. Anyway I woke up late so was rushing around getting ready for work and forgot to take (or apply) the emla cream.
Oh well. I decided that I would just continue without.
So my plan was to tape a bead over one end of the implant so it made the opposite end stick up. This worked really well. Then I planned on using a no. 15 scalpel to slice across the lump that formed by the sticky up implant. Then I was going to switch to a no. 10 scalpel to slice through any encapsulation that wasn’t cut with the initial incision and hopefully the implant would slide out like a shit exiting an anus.
So that was the plan.
What actually happened was:
Faffed around and got all the equipment ready, including my sterile field and ANTT opening my equipment (including a pair of spencer wells forceps - just in case it was being awkward)
Vomited all over my sterile field (but luckily missed my hand, now with a 3mm cut)
Fainted
On the way down to the ground smacked the side of my head on the edge of the stainless steel trolley I was using as my work surface
Remained unconscious for three and a half minutes
Came round
Saw all the blood on the floor from my head
Vomited on the floor and all over my shirt
Managed to grab gauze and applied pressure to head wound
Once bleeding stopped (head - the hand had long since sorted itself and stopped on its own) I washed my hair, dried it as best I could and then attempted to stick steristrips on my head which didn’t work as my hair was still wet and getting wetter with the miniscule amounts of continued bleeding and the strips had no chance of sticking to my scalp - just my hair
Shoved a sticky pad on as best I could and then put a cap on from the car (and a t-shirt to replace my wet and vomit covered shirt)
Simple plaster for tiny wound on hand - not bleeding, just to cover
Tidied up the room, disposing of clinical waste and sharps appropriately
Went home
So not successful in any way, shape or form. For my next attempt, I might emla and ask my friend to do the cutting while I lie down and screw my eyes shut.
Jesus dude, this sounds horrible. Hope you recover fine. Ain’t anyone who can assist with removal, so you spare the trauma. If there is no installer, ask a friend to assist you.
