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How Long Until Plastic Surgery Stitches Dissolve?

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?

Asked 36 months ago by mnatella in boston, ma

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stitches

Sutures in eyelid surgery

If absorbable sutures are used they typically dissolve anywhere between 5 to 12 days. For the lower eyelids I usually use absorbable sutures. For the upper eyelids non absorables are used because they heal much better in this area.

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Kami K. Parsa, MD

Los Angeles Oculoplastic Surgeon

Dissolving sutures in blepharoplasty

Depending on the suture, dissolving sutures may take anywhere from 5 days to 14 days to dissolve. Warm soaks and topical ointments may speed this process. To achieve the best scar appearance, non dissolving sutures should be run just under the skin from one end of the incision to the other. The suture ends are taped in place and after 3-5 days the suture is easily removed by sliding it out in the office. This leaves no "track" marks on the skin which... more

Jeffrey M. Darrow, MD

Boston Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Disolvable suture will most likely stay for 30-60 days

Most disolvable sutures remain for 30-60 days. if they are placed externally, they can be removed one week after surgery.

S. Sean Younai, MD

Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Dissolving Sutures And Blepharoplasty

If your surgeon used a fast absorbing gut suture, it should dissolve within 7-10 days. In many cases the body digests the suture material under the skin before the visible portion of the suture thread actually falls off. Therefore, you may still see some suture material on the skin at 10 days or so. Keeping the incisions moisturized with ointment (preferably an eye antibiotic ointment) will help speed this process up. One of the worst things you can do is to allow the incision to scab or dry... more

John M. Hilinski, MD

San Diego Facial Plastic Surgeon

Absorbable sutures for upper eyelid surgery

Absorbable sutures can sometimes take longer than expected to dissolve. 1% hydrogen peroxide will hasten this process for some types of sutures and is worth a try. Any remaining sutures should be removed by your surgeon to prevent suture marks.

Anand D. Patel, MD

Austin Facial Plastic Surgeon

Dissolving Stitches for Eyelid Surgery

We have different stitches that dissolve at different times: some will dissolve in 3-5 days, others can take weeks or months! The dissolving stitches on the surface that you can see will generally dissolve between 3-7 days. The stitches "dissolve" as a result of your body's reaction to the stitch material. Soaking them in water, for example, won't make them "dissolve" any faster. Because your surgeon does want them in for a particular time period,... more

Paul C. Zwiebel, MD

Denver Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Soaking and pulling away can remove dissolvable blepharoplasty sutures

Mnatella, Be sure to ask your doctor before trying this. I use gut or chromic sutures when I want a dissolvable suture during blepharoplasty. Gut dissolves in 4-5 days but Chromic can hang around for 10 to 14 days. I normally remove non-absorbable sutures at 3-5 days, so you should not need eyelid sutures after 6-7 days normally. Usually, chromic sutures and some gut sutures dry out and are not really holding the skin together at 6 days. In fact, leaving the suture in longer than 6-7 days... more

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Brooke R. Seckel, MD

Boston Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Time period for stitch dissolution

Each dissolving suture material has different thickness and time period for the disintegration. There is nothing you can do to make the sutures dissolve faster. They are there for a reason, to hold the wound together while your body heals. Follow your surgeon's instructions. Hope you are happy with the result!

Robert L. Kraft, MD

New York Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Stitch Dissolve Time?

Thank you for the question. Depending on the type of suture used, most is old sutures in this area dissolve between 1 to 2 weeks after surgery. They may be removed sooner by your surgeon. I hope this helps.

Tom J. Pousti, MD

San Diego Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Dissolving sutures used in eyelid surgery

Don't worry. You should be only days away from having the sutures disappear if fast dissolving chromic sutures were used by your Plastic Surgeon. There is nothing that you have to do. Verify with your doctor as to the type of sutures used for the surgery.

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Francis (Frank) William Rieger, MD

Tampa Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

Eyelid Surgery should be gone in 7-10 days

How Long Until Plastic Surgery Stitches Dissolve? 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? Thank you for the question, There are many different types of sutures. It depends on the sutures your surgeon used. Usually for eyelids 7-10 days the sutures should be gone. see video

Sonia Badreshia-Bansal, MD

San Francisco Dermatologic Surgeon

Dissolving eyelid stitches

How long dissolvable stitches remain depends on what kind of dissolvable sutures used by the surgeon. Some dissolve within a couple of days, some dissolve over a few weeks. The rate that these stitches dissolve also depend on the individual patient. Because of the variability of dissolvable sutures, I generally never use them on eyelids. I find it more reliable to use non dissolvable sutures in the eyelids that are removed in three to five days. The healing is... more

James Tang, MD

Houston Plastic Surgeon

ASPS

1-2 Weeks

Ideally the sutures used for the eyelid surgery will dissolve within 5-10 days; however, the knots may take longer than the rest of the suture. In this case, your doctor can remove them. Usually this is not necessary, by gently massaging the antibiotic ointment over the area, and applying warm compresses as needed, most patients do not need anything further.

Elliot M. Heller, MD

New York Facial Plastic Surgeon

Dissolving stitches used in eyelid surgery dissolve within 5-8 days

There are a number of different types of dissolving stitches that can be used. Those used in eyelid surgery are often the most fast absorbing type of dissolvable stitches –expected to dissolve within 5-8 days. This can be accelerated using warm compresses and the application of antibiotic ointment to the sutured areas. However, it is difficult to predict exactly how long the stitches will take to dissolve. Because of this, I prefer to use “permanent” sutures that... more

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Michael R. Macdonald, MD

Bay Area Facial Plastic Surgeon

Suture material

The precise amount of time depends on the exact suture type. The type of suture I use in this area is fast absorbing plain gut which usually takes 1-2 weeks to absorb. I would ask your plastic surgeon what kind of suture material was used and then you can search this via the web or ask your plastic surgeon.

Chad Douglas Tattini, MD

Bloomington Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Dissolving sutures and Blepharoplasty

The time that it takes for skin sutures to dissolve depends on the type and the thickness of the suture. The most commonly used sutures can take 5 - 30 days to fully dissolve. I prefer to use non-dissolving sutures for the upper and lower eyelid skin because I feel that it gives a better cosmetic result. If I use a dissolving suture, then I will remove any remaining suture in 1 or 2 weeks.

Melanie Ho Erb, MD

Santa Monica Oculoplastic Surgeon

Dissolving sutures and blepharoplasty

The speed at which sutures dissolve depends on the material they are made from, and their thickness. Some sutures start to dissolve within a week, others can take weeks to months. Surgeons can choose the speed they want, depending on the needs of the particular repair. For eyelid sutures, usually we just want a material that holds for the first week, and then goes away. Unfortunately, sometimes the sutures don't always dissolve when we want them to...so sometimes we more

Thomas Fiala, MD

Altamonte Springs Plastic Surgeon

ASAPS ASPS

Dissolvable sutures after eyelid surgery

There are many different types of absorbable sutures, so their rate of absorption really varies. However, for your sutures, my guess is that they will start to dissolve within 5 days. It could still take a couple of weeks for them to fully dissolve. Other sutures that are used deep can take months to dissolve, but they are not routinely used for the skin closure.

Ryan Greene, MD, PhD

Fort Lauderdale Facial Plastic Surgeon

Blepharoplasty and dissolvable sutures

I only use dissolvable sutures for lower eyelid blepharoplasty. they are usually gone in 1 to 2 weeks. For the upper eyelid blepharoplasty I use permanent sutures that I remove at 5 days. I would advice AGAINST trying to speed up the process. If all the sutures are not absorbed at 2 weeks have your doctor removed them him/her self to avoid any subsequent scarring.

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Henri P. Gaboriau, MD

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

Different sutures, different dissolve rates.

There are various dissolvable stitches on the market and it depends upon what type of sutures were used. Certain dissolvable sutures (ie, fast absorbing gut) are typically used on the skin's surface and dissolve within 7-10 days while other sutures are applied beneath the surface of the skin (ie, vicryl) and can take up to 3 months to dissolve.

Peter Schmid, DO

Longmont Facial Plastic Surgeon

Dissolving sutures and when they disappear.

Dissolving or absorbable suture are made of various material which are designed to hydrolyze and breakdown over a set period of time. Some are designed to breakdown with in 3-5 days whereas other may take as long as 2 weeks. Advantages are not needing to have them removed, whereas disadvantages include variability when they dissolve (too early or too late). Warm compresses as well as keeping sutures moist with ointment often help breakdown, or if they don't breakdown they can be... more

Carlo Rob Bernardino, MD

Monterey Oculoplastic Surgeon

Stitches/Sutures rate of dissolving in Eyelid Procedures

Typically the sutures that are used in the upper eyelid are removed regardless of whether or not they are "dissolveable" The reason for this is because dissolvable sutures dont predictably dissolve at a set time. There is a range of times that sutures do dissolve, but we prefer to remove the sutures by day 6 for eyelid surgeries. The dissolvable sutures in the lower eyelid area typically can be removed even sooner (day 4 or day 5.)

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Jon E. Mendelsohn, MD

Cincinnati Facial Plastic Surgeon

Sutures take different times to dissolve

There are many different types of dissolvable sutures that are used in plastic surgery. The time that it takes for the suture to dissolve is dependent on that type of suture. Some sutures can dissolve in as quick as 3 to 5 days. These type of sutures are usually used for closing the skin. Other types of sutures can take 6 to 7 months to dissolve. An example of this type of suture is utilized to close the deep tissues on an abdominoplasty. Therefore, the answer to your question is that... more

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Raghu Athre, MD

Houston Facial Plastic Surgeon

How long for stitches to dissolve?

There are many different types of materials used for stitches (sutures) for closing the skin. Some are absorbable and some are permanent and need to be removed. Typically, the type of sutures used for eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) that are visible on top of the skin and absorbable take anywhere from 5-10 days to dissolve. Any longer, and these may leave railroad track scars along the incision. I typically remove non-absorbable stitches after blepharoplasty at 5... more

Etai Funk, MD

Houston Facial Plastic Surgeon

How Long Until Plastic Surgery Stitches Dissolve?

There are different approaches to closing blepharoplasty incisions. If dissolvable sutures were used, then they usually dissolve in anywhere from 5 to 14 days, depending on the exact type of material used and the patients ability to dissolve the sutures. Often they dissolve internally but are "stuck" to the skin externally and seem intact. Using ointment on the sutures and cleaning the wound helps prevent this.

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