The Nurse Said Dont Get the Bandage Wet After Sclerotherapy, Why is That?

When I perform sclerotherapy in Orange County, CA we have many patients who would like to get their tape and cotton balls wet after their treatment.  The reason we advise them to keep it dry is because they will no longer compress the area well if they get wet (which is why they are placed there to begin with) plus we have found that the paper part of the tape sometimes comes off in the shower but the adhesive stays on the skin, making it more difficult to remove later.   We only recommend keeping the cotton balls and tape on for 3 hours, so keeping it dry for that long is usually not a problem.

It is best to keep your ace bandage dry until you convert to compressions stockings so as not to lose compression over the sclerosed vein. Believe it or not, there are some vein specialists advise patients not to take stockings off for two weeks after sclerotherapy and shower WITH the stockings. I think this is overkill and not necessary. 

I recommend wearing compression after sclerotherapy for 48 hours.  There are many reasons to keep the dressing dry the most important being loss of compression when wet.  Other things that a wet dressing can cause are skin irritation, skin blisters, masceration of skin over the injected areas and movement of the bandage with motion. The bottom line is --dry is better.

It's best for you to call the office who performed the procedure on you. Patients should never be embarrassed to ask questions. There are many reasons why your doctor may want you to not get the bandages wet. Wet bandages do not compress well. The wetness may irritate the skin . Wetness may make it hard to remove a bandage. It could also cause adhesive to fall off. The list goes on . Good luck.

We tell patients to not get their dressings wet for a couple reasons. First, it is extremely uncomfortalble to have wet dressings on and just like wet clothes they take forever to dry if they are on you. also you will lost your compression thus preventing the compression of the treated veins with enough compression.

 

 

To answer this question it would help to know what kind of bandaging they placed on your treated areas. In our practice, we place band-aids that stretch (for pressure) over each injection site which we prefer patients to leave on for 24 hours after the treatment.  It is best for these bandages to stay dry so that they maintain their adhesiveness and therefore pressure over the injection sites for that 24-hour time period.  I would advise you call the office and ask them why they asked you to keep the bandage dry if you are concerned.  

I don't use compression hose or bandages or wraps after sclerotherapy as it's not necessary for the small veins. However, if you were having larger veins treated, then wraps are sometimes used for compression purposes, and to prevent bruising and swelling. And if bandages get wet, the compression factor goes away and the bandage loosens. This is why I'm sure they told you to keep them dry. However, just call the office that performed your treatment and ask for more specifics.