He said coulda put in a 4th suture, but it probably wouldn’t need it.
He also mentioned sutures could be removed after 7-10 days. 7 day min, but “if you’re not sure if it’s healed up, leave em in for an extra day or two”.
So… This being the 2nd time in my life I’ve ever had stitches, is there an “Idiots guide to when your scalpel wound is healed” ? Or should I just wait the 10 days? Started getting a little itchy today, so that’s a good sign. No pain, soreness or tenderness.
Lovely topic.
The timing for suture removal depends on the location of the wound and the type of suture used. Here are general guidelines for when to remove sutures based on the location:
Face: 5-7 days
Scalp: 7-10 days
Chest, abdomen, and back: 7-14 days
Arms and legs: 10-14 days
Hands and feet: 10-14 days
Joints (knees, elbows): 14 days
I know you want to get rid of them but I would agree with Amal. Your skin needs to regain structural integrity before you remove them, so please wait few more days.
Removal is easy. Disinfect the place, desinfect your tools and hands. Remove exessive crust formation with a pad soaked with alcohol, inspect the stiches. Lift the suture and cut on the opposite site of the knot, closer to the skin as possible, then just pull the bastard out. Inspect if the suture loop, inspect the skin tissue(if you remove them too early the wound may open, like in your case). If everything looks good, proceed with the next one. After you’re done, apply iodine solution on top for extra disinfection and then you can enjoy your new toy.
For the record I took the sutures for my apex flex after 12 days. The one from my most recent leg surgery(close to the knee) after 14 days.
So far your wound looks good, skin looks pink, no redness, no signs of infection.
Yeah, wasn’t worried about the how, just then when. Machete accident ages ago, lost the tip of a finger. Dr did a piss-poor job taking out sutures, left about half of em in so I took the rest (and the half-pieces) out myself.
Thanks for the advice guys, I wasn’t planning on taking them out any time soon, just wondering about the 7 VS 10 days part. Will leave em in for a bit more yet.
Just checked my (admittedly very basic) first aid kit, I don’t have any Iodine. Don’t even have any hydrogen peroxide. Have some rubbing alcohol, but heard that was bad for wound care.
Is Iodine super useful/necessary to have, and does it expire? Had limited space to haul my stuff out here when I moved and a lot of that stuff is pretty cheap so I either left it, or tossed it.
Shopping trip today anyway, so will look for something.
It’s what was used before isopropyl alcohol was common, but if you’re treating wounds or preparing skin then a good scrub with isopropyl is typically better. If you need to cover large areas and see what you’ve already covered like in surgery, iodine is good because it acts as a physical marker whereas isopropyl won’t leave any trace. Also isopropyl evaporates quickly and as such leaves the skin open to recontamination almost immediately, while iodine crystalization “lasts longer” on the surface of the skin which is good for long surgical procedures.
For first aid, isopropyl wipes are a pretty good choice.
Yeah you can see how the sutures are now starting to “pull in” like little tiny innie bellybuttons around the dive points. The other section I said might be a concern is starting to close up as well… a few more days and you should be good… just try to be careful with that little open section, maybe put a bandage overtop of it that pulls the skin together with the adhesive on either side… but ultimately you should be fine.
could be but doesn’t need to be… just use a good standard fabric bandage with descent adhesive… put one side down, pull tight over the wound so the skin is bunched up and pushing the wound closed, then tack down the other side… it should even out the tension and hold the wound closed pretty well. It’s more about ensuring the skin doesn’t get stretched and crack open that spot than it is keeping tension.
Ended up pulling out more hair than stitches. Still looking pinkish down in the crevasse there that I couldn’t see with the sutures in, so threw another bandage on to keep everything tucked together.
As an FYI to anybody else not already knowing this: The bandage also help prevent you from inadvertently scratching at it.
