I had upper eyelid surgery 8 days ago, and the doctor used dissolvable stitches. How long does it normally take for stitches to dissolve? Is there anything I can do to make them dissolve faster?
Doctors use many different kinds of sutures. Each one has a different absorption rate. The fast absorbing sutures of the eyelids are usually fast absorbing gut sutures of 5-0 or 6-0 size. These will usually dissolve with 5-8 days. If they are still hanging around I tell patients to moisten them with bacitracin ophthalmic ointment.
The eye area is very sensitive to inflammation and stitches. I am not sure that using a dissolvable stitch is ideal for long term healing. Return to your doctor to check and see that everything is healing well. It does not sound like sutures in the eyelids should be around for 8 days.
To mnatella,
Hi! They should have dissolved by now. Go back to your surgeon and he or she can take out the remaining sutures. You'll be fine.
Mnatella, Talk to your doctor before doing anything different than they instructed you to do. Please be patient with your eyes - they will heal in time. Your doctor used a specific suture for a specific reason, so please don't try to hasten the recovery by doing something unplanned.
Contact the doctor
