General Medical Question - Urgent - How long do stitches usually stay in for?

[Starz*]

I had them done on thursday morning and the nurse said get your gp to take them out mon-wed. gp booked me in for tuesday.

How long do people usually have them in for?? i guess it varies on what damage was done??

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I had a gaping cut that was steri-stripped for 4 days, but i kept opening it up. then i recut it to the tendon. when i went to A&E the only way they could stitch it was to do debridement first,(scrape it out) so it would all heal.

Will it heal that quick??

[Animad]

Usually when you stitch a wound up you usually say the stitches should stay in for 7-10days so 5days doesn't sound very long to me and it is at risk of reopening at that stage even if it looks like its closed because the tissue below the surface is still binding together especially as the cut you've made sounds deep.

The reason they debrided it was because it was left for a while so they were removing all of the debris and cutting back the dead tissue to get to an undamaged area with a healthy vascular bed (blood supply) that would properly heal together.

[scaredofme]

I don't really have a lot to add to that.

My stitches were in for 8 days. They recommended 7, but that landed it on a sunday. So I had them out monday.

They usually say 7-10 days but I guess they must know what they are talking about, and mine looked practically healed after a few days, though as has been said, it may not be completely healed even if it appears so.

Maybe bring this up with your gp when you go for you appointment on tuesday?

Ask his/her opinion?

Laura xx

[x-dying-inside-x]

i had a bad one on my arm once i ended up with them in for 21days because it wouldnt heal.
it really does depend.
it could me 7days it might take upto 14 sometimes.

[Cupcake]

i once had mine in for 14 days and then a few days later it split back open. and they said 7-10 days.. hmmn. so i guess it depends if you heal fast/slow

[chasing bliss]

Depends on how quickly you heal, location/depth/shape of the cut, how well the stitching is done, etc.

I had mine in for 10 days but after getting them out it split right back open. I was worried it would happen because it didn't seem healed yet. So if you are concerned that it's too early, make it clear when you go in for the appointment.

[Starz*]

wow, 4-6 days really is a short time.
im sure my gp will look if its ready before she takes them out.