Is 22 days too long to leave my stitches in after brow and mini facelift and should I request another doctor to remove them?

Usually sutures are removed 7-10 days after surgery, but in some cases they can be left in longer.  You need to contact your physician’s office for clarification, but depending on the method of suturing, it is not necessarily too long. I assume your surgeon intended for this treatment plan.

Thank you for your question.You should have your sutures removed by a nurse practitioner or another doctor at the appropriate time. This can vary from 7-12 days depending on the surgeon. Waiting for 21 days will not be appropriate. All The Best !

Yes, 22 days is too long, in my opinion.Perhaps one of the nurses at the practice can see you for suture removal, or the doctor covering the practice can evaluate you.  Sutures should certainly be ready to be removed by 10-12 days, at the latest, with the majority able to come out earlier.

Every surgeon takes time off for vacation, meetings, his or her own medical care, etc., but I'm sure the office remains open, and staff is present to continue functions of the practice. One or more staffers should be capable of removing sutures.To leave them in for over 3 weeks so he can remove them on his return is, frankly, inappropriate. As others have stated, suture track marks are due to two things--tying sutures too tightly, and/or leaving them in too long. More than a week or so leaves marks (depending on how tightly the surgeon ties them, as too tight can leave marks at even a week if the stitches "cut through" the skin like a cheesewire).Call the office and get these sutures out now, or ask who is covering for the surgeon and have him or her remove the sutures. Best wishes! Dr. Tholen

Have these removed immediately.  Many surgeons use absorbable sutures and magically think they thereby don't need to remove the sutures.  To avoid causing scars and suture tracks, the sutures need to be removed 5-7 days after surgery.  For a variety of reasons, a few supporting sutures might need to be left for 10 days. Sutures need to be left in longer when a laser is used to make the incision (A great reason not to use a laser).  Staples also need to be removed in the same time frame. Absorbable sutures almost never disappear this fast.  Common absorbable sutures take much longer to break down.  Chromic sutures take 90 days and Vicryl sutures 75 days to fully break down and disappear.  I use absorbable sutures and frequently use so-called fast absorbing gut suture but these sutures seldom breakdown before they need to be removed.

Sutures should typically be removed in 7-10 days. In our practice, my surgical tech removes sutures in one week. Twenty-two days is too long. See if another office can remove them for you. Good luck!

Typically sutures following a facelift are removed between 6 days and 10 days.  Depending on the type of suture used (dissolvable vs permanent), this can vary and can also have various effects on the healing tissues, specifically the skin.
Have you ever seen "track" marks across a scar?  This can be the result of leaving sutures in place for too long.  That is, the skin begins to heal around the suture leaving small, round, white, track marks.  using dissolvable sutures can reduce this as they create more of an inflammatory response and also "dissolve" or at least fall out sooner.
If permanent sutures are in fact still enplane 22 days following your surgery, I recommend that you find a medical professional to remove them to avoid these unnecessary problems.

Typically sutures should be removed within one to two weeks after surgery. Its best you contact your surgeon and confirm the timing. 

Hello and thank you for your question "arkansas919".
Yes, waiting 22 days to remove permanent (black or blue colored) sutures and/or staples is too long. Your physician's nurse or medical assistant who is adequately trained can easily remove them for you.  Typically, with your type of surgery we wait 10-14 days to remove your sutures / staples, depending on the surgeon, sometimes sooner.
When patients are traveling, or live out of state, and you need to schedule removal of sutures with another doctor's office, you can request that your surgical operative note be faxed to your primary care physician, or another similar surgeon within your region so that they are have the medical information to best assist you.
I hope this helps you,
Dr. Kristin J. Tarbet, MD, FACS

Arkansas919,
Thanks for the question.  22 days is too long to leave permanent stitches in, and your surgeon's office should be able to coordinate to have the stitches removed in a reasonable time period, usually within 10 days of surgery or so.  Leaving stitches in longer may lead to "train tracking" in the wound and scarring in the longer term.  Good luck!