My Dr. said it would be ok to shower 48 hours after surgery. Well 48 hours has passed and I am ready to shower. I just took a peek under the bandages and it looks like there are little strips of tape over the incissions. Do I remove those or leave them on?:tt1:

They had me shower the next morning after surgery before I was released. I was told to leave the strips on but take off any gauze covering and leave that off after the shower.

Those are called steri strips. Go ahead and shower and they will slowly come off over the next couple of weeks.:tt1:

Thank you for that bit of info:thumbup:

Double check your discharge instructions, but the previous answers are correct.

My instructions said if they did not come off on their own, I could remove them 14 days post-op. They were tenacious suckers and only one had come off on its own! I was thrilled when I peeled off the 4 remaining ones because they were itching me like crazy!:tt1:

kagead

steri strips are holding your incisions together... no stitches... they're super sticky so will stay on for a while, but don't take them off yet. let your incisions heal well becauseif you pull on them you can actually pull your incision open a little if it's too soon (as I did after my gallbladder surgery... I'm a little OCD with band aids and things with edges that curl up...)

:tt1:

I had no bandages and got the ok to shower immediately after surgery. I was told to not scrub to vigorously at the scars.