my nurse advised me to leave them alone and they would fall off in a few days. its been 6 days and my incisions...or maybe the strips....itch like CRAZY and despite having taken 3 very long, extremely hot showers, these strips are showing NO signs of loosening.

what is up with this? i have a meeting with my surgeon on the 12th. will these still be on me by then?

the itch is driving me insane. is these anything i can do to help eliminate the itchiness?

Edited March 3, 201016 yr by harliquinn

Hi harliquinn, I had my gastric bypass a week ago and my strips are still on, i was told a week to ten days, but i also have dressings over mine, some staff dress the wounds and others dont, if it looks as if the wound have healed, then gently ease them off with cotton wool and luke warm water, otherwise i would just leave them to drop, best wishes.

No, don't pull them off---at least not until they are hanging by a thread. They're there for a reason.

If the itching drives you nuts, ask your doctor if you can take Benadryl. Don't apply anything to the itchy skin; it may interfere with wound healing.

I worked for a surgeon for years and we normally had them on a week. However as long as there is no other covering on them they will slowly curl up on the ends. When you wash and dry them in the shower that will move the process along. My doc told me to take mine off at 7-10 days. Mine were off in 7 days because I showered daily and washed each one with a washcloth.

The itching could be a sign of the incisions healing. I have taken showers everyday and the only one that shows signs of loosening is the top one but I think that is because my bra hits it! I won't touch them with a washcloth because I'm a worrrier.

The PA told me that it is OK if they don't come off by the time of my post-op appt, the surgeon will just take them off.

thanks for the replies everyone! i ended up meeting with my surgeon today to have him check out my incisions (one was a bit weepy, another was a little red and bruised). turns out my incisions are fine and he said if the strips are still on when i see him on the 12th, he will probably remove them.

Thanks for asking this questions! I'm 8 days since surgery and mine are still on too. I saw my surgeon 2 days ago and he said just to leave them alone and they will eventually fall off but they are itching!