What happens if stitches are not removed in time? The neurosurgeon listed 3 consequences

Stitches cannot directly jeopardize your health. However, they should only be removed in a doctor’s office, as otherwise an infection can occur. If you do not see a doctor in time, the marks on the skin can remain for life.

How long do stitches take to heal?

Skin sutures in different places of the human body heal at different speeds. The better the blood circulation in the tissues, the faster this process occurs.

For example, after surgeries in the face, the stitches are removed on the fifth or sixth day after surgery. In the scalp – not earlier than the eighth or ninth day. But on the upper or lower extremities (for example, on the abdomen) – after two weeks.

The healing is affected by the conditions under which the stitches are placed. They can be performed:

• In trauma, when a large amount of surrounding tissue is damaged or inflammation is present;
• after elective clean surgery.

Clean surgery is a procedure that has not involved pus and inflammation, scalded tissue trauma, or bleeding. These are typically surgical incisions.

Slow healing of sutures is seen in the elderly, vegetarianism and veganism, lack of protein in the diet, diabetes, chronic cardiovascular and skin conditions.

“Patients-vegetarians sutures after eyelid plasty are removed not on the fifth or sixth day, as usual, but after 10 days. That is, on average, healing is 30-40% slower. Also strongly delay overgrowth orthodox fasting and fasting,” – says the plastic surgeon.

At the same time accelerate the process of healing sutures proper nutrition, young age, the use of large amounts of protein and anabolic steroids. Therefore, men with good testosterone levels or athletes have faster scarring than others.

In addition, sutures heal faster if the incision is not in a functionally active area, such as on the bend of the lower or upper limb, but in a place with minimal mechanical impact, including from movement and changes in body position.

What can happen if the sutures are not removed in time?

Before removing the sutures, the doctor takes into account the localization, the condition of the wound, the general well-being of the patient and other factors that slow down scarring. It is also assessed how firmly they have healed.

When the sutures are located on the face and exposed parts of the body, a delay in removing the sutures for more than a week, provided that they have healed, threatens the following consequences:

• inflammation of the sutures and the so-called ligature fistula can occur, when an infection gets under the thread and the suture becomes inflamed;
• a complication is likely to occur without suppuration, when there is a permanent hole in the skin, such as we see when people wear earrings in their ears;
• also in the case of untimely removal may leave marks on the skin, especially if a wrap or knotted suture is applied.

Can stitches be removed by myself in an emergency?

Sutures cannot jeopardize your health. Therefore, it is recommended to remove them only in a medical office, because the ingress of infection can not be excluded, and if you do self-treatment, the probability of this increases many times.

Depending on the type of suture, there may be different difficulties in removing it, because they can be complex, not just simple knotty ones, when the thread is simply thrown over the skin. In addition, the patient himself will not be able to reliably assess whether his skin has healed or not.

If we talk about an emergency situation within the framework of an already arisen complication, such as inflammation or fistula, it is necessary to immediately contact a doctor.

In some cases, the specialist will allow patients to remove the stitches. For example, those that are made with absorbable thread, which itself can come off in two weeks. These are usually small, single knotted stitches in hidden areas of the body.

“I tell patients that if in a week the scar will cling to clothes or underwear and cause discomfort, then, having treated the suture, you can superficially trim the node with scissors, without pulling it out,” – notes the plastic surgeon.