How Long Until Plastic Surgery Stitches Dissolve?

Sutures on the upper eyelid are generally fairly thin and only a handful of stitches are used in this area that are absorbable.  Some dissolve as soon as 10 days and others can take as long as 4 weeks.  After a week, you can visit with your surgeon and he should be able to remove them if they are still in place.

Great question. Typically these sutures dissolve within the first 2 weeks after surgery, but it also depends on what type of suture was used. Some sutures can last longer (4-6 weeks), though this is less common. You can use the ophthalmic ointment that was likely provided for you after surgery which can slightly shorten the time for these to dissolve. It seems less likely in this situation, but sometimes your surgeon will use non-dissolvable sutures which need to be removed. This are typically a different color (blue or black) than the dissolvable sutures which are often clear or brown/yellow.
Hope this helps!Kyle Kimura, MDFacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

It depends what kind of absorbable sutures your surgeon used, and the best person to answer this question would be your surgeon. I have used many different types of sutures over the years but have come to the conclusion that for upper-eyelid blepharoplasty surgery, a non-absorbable 6.0 teflon-coated prolene produces the best result. It’s thinner than a human hair and I remove it after 8 days. Many of my patients heal without any trace of the incision, which is the goal. Absorbable sutures are also commonly used, but I have found that they can sometimes cause inflammation in certain patients, and the scar can be larger and might take longer to heal. Please follow up with your original surgeon to discuss what sutures were used, how long you can expect them to remain in place until they dissolve, and what further postop care is needed.

Hello,

When dissolvable stitches are used on the eyelid skin, they typically and ideally dissolve around 7-10 days, as the eyelids heal rather quickly. Depending on how much they are exposed to water, rubbing and ointment, the time frame varies somewhat (more exposure, earlier they dissolve).
If the stitches are not yet dissolved by 7-10 days, it's best to remove them to avoid irritation or permanent marks on the skin.

Warm regards,

Dr. Pedy Ganchi
Village Plastic Surgery

Many people use non-dissolving sutures for eyelid surgery, that need to be removed 5-7 days later. If they are dissolving then they should fall out in 7-10 days - if they haven't return to your surgeon to have them removed

Sutures are either non-absorbable which means then need to be removed or absorbable which means your body breaks them down and they do not need to be removed.  For eyelid surgery I generally use non-absorbable sutures as these tend to cause less skin irritation, and remove them between 5-7 days depending on the treatment.  The length of time for adsorbable sutures to break down depends on the suture as there are different sizes and types of suture.  Generally, the suture a surgeon would use for an eyelid incision should dissolve within a week.  I would check in with your surgeon what suture was used.  If it does not dissolve in the appropriate time, the suture can be removed int he office. 

Dissolvable sutures will stay in different periods of time depending on what type of suture is used. Most eyelid sutures that are dissolvable will fall out within 7-10 days, but I remove all of my eyelid sutures by 7 days anyway in order to let the incision heal faster and prevent milia or other issues with the incision.
All the best,

For my TBT-lift of the upper eyelids I use dissolvable stitches to tighten the orbital septum. These stitches dissolve within a few weeks time (3-4 weeks). The skin is closed with a suture which needs to be removed after 4-5 days. By massaging the tissue with the dissolvable suture in it you can break down the suture and help to dissolve it sooner. I would give the tissue the time to dissolve it naturally. There is no need to speed up this process. Hope this helps.

There is some variability as to how long it takes for sutures to fully dissolve. It generally takes 7-10 days.  But for certain types of suture it may take longer.  If the sutures are still present after 7-10 days you can consider having your surgeon remove them.  

Hope that helps and good luck.

For upper eyelid surgery, most surgeons use non-dissolving sutures since this usually heals better in the area with less reaction to the suture material. The eyelid incision, however, heals very well and dissolvable sutures usually take anywhere from 5-14 days depending on the material used.

Most surgeons that use absorbable sutures for eyelid surgery are using a fast absorbing suture that should be gone in 7-10 days. It loses most of the strength around day 5 which is good timing.I typically use a combination of absorbable and permanent sutures (that I remove on day 5-7). I do this becasue in my experience with the frequent movement of the eyes sometimes the lateral most part of the incision is under more tension than the middle most part. We all have our own tricks of the trade.Hope this helps.Best of luck,DrC