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When to Remove Alar Base Stiches?

asked 3 years ago by Petal in UK
Latest answer by William Portuese, MD
Question viewed 1,204 times

When is the correct time to remove alar base stiches? It seems to vary between 3 to 9 days. Will a long space of time before removal not leave stich holes?

5 answers to When to Remove Alar Base Stiches?

+2

Usually 1 week to remove alar base stitches

Alar base stitches are sutures placed along the nostril-cheek crease, used to make the nostrils smaller. This is one area where scarring can be obvious in a rhinoplasty patient. There is no "magic" number of days for suture removal, but leaving the sutures in for too long causes scarring at the suture sites, often referred to as "railroad tracking." Some patients are slower to heal than others. I generally remove all facial sutures in 1 week, unless the wound has not... more
Theda C. Kontis, MD

Baltimore Facial Plastic Surgeon

facialplasticsurgerymd.com

+1

Best to remove stitches after 5 days

It is best to remove stitches in the face by the fifth day so as not to leave any railroad tracking on the incision. Additionally, any sutures left in nine days will leave railroad tracking and should be avoided.
William Portuese, MD

Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.seattlefacial.com

+1

Alar Base Stitches...When is the Best Time to Remove for Optimal Healing?

Hi Petal, Alar sutures should be removed at 7 days.  Actually the longer the stitches are left in place, the greater the risk of those dreaded "stitch" holes that you are referring to.  Be well and enjoy your new nose. Dr. P
Michael A. Persky, MD

Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

No more than 7 days.

 Usually we  take these out in 5-7 days. If you leave them in for longer, you run the risk of suture marks permanently where the suture was.
Toby Mayer, MD

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon
+1

Ask your physician

Every plastic surgeon has their own way of doing surgery. Ask them. There is no absolute correct answer - I do many rhinoplasties and take out the sutures between 3 and 7 days usually.
William B. Rosenblatt, MD

New York Plastic Surgeon

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