What can I do about painful stitches around the back of my ears after having a facelift 4 weeks ago?

Patients can sometimes experience pain around the ears following surgery. This may take several months to subside. The best way to determine the cause of the pain would be to follow up with your surgeon for an in-person examination. I would additionally suggest that you stop applying peroxide and Neosporin to the incisions as this can cause irritation. Good luck!

I'm sorry to read that you're still
feeling such bothersome discomfort at this point after your surgery. In my
experience, it's very uncommon for a facelift patient to still have permanent sutures
in place a month after surgery. Those should have been removed a couple of
weeks ago. But perhaps there are some deeper, dissolving type sutures spitting
out. Infection is typically quite painful and often includes redness, swelling,
or oozing at the site. Even if you don't suspect an infection, please see your
surgeon to determine a timeline for suture removal. Best of luck.

Incisions after surgery can be tender for months as the body recovers and this may be normal. However, if you have any concerns of possible infection, you should contact your surgeon immediately so appropriate action can be taken.  In addition, I would recommend you stop the peroxide and neosporin as these can often cause further irritaition and discomfort. 

Thank you for your questions.Most of us remove the black or blue stitches 7-10 days post facelift surgery.  So if those are black or blue, I would visit your plastic surgeon.If they are more clear-looking, they might be the dissolving sutures that we put deeper; they are meant to dissolve over 6-12 weeks but often the body tries to push them out.  In my practice, I would see my patient and pull and snip those ones.  Otherwise, I recommend massaging the scars with vitamin E oil daily, which seems to stimulate the inner blood flow and help the dissolving stitches to dissolve faster.Hope this helps!

Best regards,Dr. Marc DuPere, Toronto Aesthetic Plastic Surgeon

Dear janloumacMost of the time, at 4 weeks, its the scars that are bothersome and not sutures. In my experience using peroxide and neosporin at 4 week is not only not needed but also can lead to significant irritation. If you dont have open wounds, you can stop peroxide and neosporin and switch to a moisturizing cream or lotion. If you have open wounds, generally peroxide is irritating and delays wound healing. It seems like you would benefit from a visit to your surgeon to get some guidance for help with your healing. congrats on having the procedure!

After four weeks all sutures should be removed after a facelift. There may be issues with buried sutures working their way through the skin. The only person that can help you is your own surgeon.

At 4 weeks any external sutures should be gone - either removed or dissolved.  If they are still there you should see your surgeon for removal since they can cause irritation.  Neosporin can cause allergy and sensitivity in many people so you should stop that.  Buried sutures may start to poke out and can also cause irritation.  See your surgeon.   

It would be unusual to develop an infection one month after a facelift but it is not uncommon to still have soreness.  I would not suggest putting neosporin ointment on the incision lines  for an extended period of time unless directed to do so by your surgeon.  Things tend to  improve greatly over the first 12 weeks so give it some more time.  Mak\ sure you follow up with your surgeon if you are having any problems.

Thank you for your question.  You should probably go see your surgeon.  At 4 weeks your stitches should have either been removed or they should have dissolved if they used dissolvable stitches.

Those stitches should be out by this point. Please show them to your plastic surgeon. I suspect that removal and cleaning will make your symptoms go awaybest wishes