How long do the stitches last?

[Jmmt99]

Im on day 8 and none of them seem to be remotely loose, around what day does the first one fall of and about when have they all fallen off?

[Agrandanimal]

I’m on day 15 and none of my stitches have fallen out

[FifaBall1 in reply to Agrandanimal]

Try to pour some salt water at the incision site, I usually do it with a cup from a bucket and the pressure should start to help a bit. Don’t do it too hard to hurt yourself though!

[Tdgx]

I’m on day 37 and still have a stitch. Doctor said to me up to 6 weeks

[roddythescot]

Stitches will normlly have done their job in 10-12 days. Some may fall out earlier though with no problems.

If the stitches are not manually removed then thay can remain for quite a long time as there may not be enough lymph supply at the surface to consume them.

You can remove, or get the doctor/nurse to remove, the stitches from day 14. This will reduce swelling and make you more comfortable as well as avoiding the formation of stitch tunnels.

[CraftedDayL in reply to roddythescot]

How do stichest look like? Im sorry if im being dumb

[Jmmt99 in reply to CraftedDayL]

Theyre reabsorbable stitches, along the circumference of the incision

[roddythescot in reply to CraftedDayL]

The stitches look like a line of knots along the incision line.

[FifaBall1]

I’m on day 13 and just came back from a follow up appointment. It really depends what stitches the doc used as mine used a 2 week dissolve (most common) and before today I had 5 stitches left. At the appointment I told my doc to remove the loose ones and she said it would be a good idea to take the poking out so she removed em and left two in there as one is covered with scab and the other one hurt because it is embedded to deep into the skin. She said its normal to wait a couple of more weeks for those two to come out (so tota of a month) but you should ask your doc what stitches he used! At the follow up appointment they can take off the ones that have done their job! Cheers!