Mohs Surgery: Q&A
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Mohs Surgery Recovery
What is the typical recovery and downtime from Mohs surgery? What should I expect for after care needs?
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22 Doctor Answers |
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anon
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Wound healing after Mohs and reconstructive surgery
Typical recovery depends on the location of the cancer, the size of the defect, what type of reconstruction was required, and whether there are any complicating factors. Most of our patients return the day after surgery at which time the pressure bandage is removed the surgery site evaluated. After that the patient cleans the site twice daily with hydrogen peroxide; applies and antibiotic salve and a non-stick bandage. Sutures are removed for most sites at a week, and by then the site...
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Expectations after Mohs
Depending on the location and extent of your cancer, you can expect swelling and bruising, tenderness and tightness. I tend to have patients wear a bandage for 7 days after surgery and most wounds require some sort of wound care for 2-3 weeks. Depending on the type of reconstruction after the cancer is removed by Mohs, you may have lumpiness or bumps from tissue redundancy or dissolvable sutures for 3-5 weeks after surgery. Generally you can expect soreness for 24-48...
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Plan for Mohs surgery aftercare
• Your surgical wound will require care during the weeks following the surgery.
• You should plan on wearing a bandage for 10-14 days.
• Plan to avoid strenuous physical activity for 2 weeks.
• You may experience a sensation of tightness across the area of your surgery that improves with time.
• Skin cancers frequently involve small superficial nerves, and months may pass before your skin sensation returns to normal. A numb sensation may be expected over the area....
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Baton Rouge Dermatologist
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Plain vaseline or Aquaphor may be preferable for wound care to minimize allergy
More and more dermatologic surgeons are moving to just plain vaseline or Aquaphor for post-op wound care as there is significant prevalence of allergy to neomycin, bacitracin and/or polysporin. Sometimes it may not be easy to distinguish wound infection vs. allergic reaction to topical antibiotics. The hallmark of infection is pain and the hallmark for allergic reaction is itching. Prophylactic oral antibiotics may not always be necessary; however if one experiences pain in surgery site...
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Mohs surgery recovery
Your recovery after your Mohs surgery will be a function of whether surgical defect is allowed to heal on its own or whether it is stitched. Stitches on the face will result in a suture removal in approximately 5 to 7 days. After this time, the area should be closed and well on its way to healing. It will be safe to apply makeup, sunscreen, etc at this time and there will be no need for bandages. If it is allowed to heal on its own (no stitches) it may take anywhere from 3 to 5 weeks and...
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Boulder Dermatologist
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Many factors contribute to your recovery
Your recovery all depends on the location of the surgery, the extent of the removal and size of the defect prior to closure, the amount of tension and the type of closure. Swelling is more likely to occur around the eyes, as well as bruising. Lips tend to swell also. Ears may be more painful postoperatively than other sites. Usually within two to four weeks, the closure begins to look more presentable, but again, this all depends on the factors mentioned previously.
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Although large skin cancers can be seen with the naked...
Although large skin cancers can be seen with the naked eye, it takes a microscope to visualize cancer at the cellular level. The only way to prevent recurrence of localized skin cancer is to remove each and every cell; otherwise any remaining skin cancer cells can reproduce and cause a regrowth of the cancer.
Mohs surgery is a specialized method to remove skin cancer. It is named in honor of Frederick Mohs, the physician who developed the technique. Mohs surgery differs from other methods...
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Mohs Surgery Recovery
The recovery depends on the type of defect for repair. Some of the factors to consider will be the type of repair. Will your surgeon need to go a full thickness skin graft, split thickness skin graft, local flaps, or just a closure. Where is the defect? Is it on the face, back, head, leg, etc. Without examination I cannot give you an answer. As a general rule, it takes 6 weeks to recover from surgery, but the type of surgery could change the recovery...
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Recovery Time and Wound Healing
Recovery time is dependent on multiple factors. Some of these factors include the location, the size of the defect post-operatively, and the type of repair performed. For example, the face will heal faster than any of the other locations on the body, such as the legs which usually heal the slowest..
Your recovery time will also be dependent upon the wound healing process. There are many factors that impact wound healing time. Factors that impact...
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Mohs Surgery recovery
This question is difficult to answer because it depends upon so many variables. That being said, usually, we remove sutures from the face in 7-10 days and 10-14 days from non-face regions. After sutures are removed, healing wounds are usually still red and may take weeks to months to fade, but are usually not inconvenient. Some wounds are not sutured and may require up to several months to "heal". Other mitigating factors may serve to modify these above...
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