Hello Everyone,

I'm 10 days out from laproscopic VSG surgery and my steri strips have not fallen off by themselves as of yet. Should I remove them? My hubby keeps encouraging me to do so..

Thanks!

Deb

Nooo I would not remove steri strips. They will fall off!! You can clip the edges if they start peeling back. Unlikely to happen but the steri strips are there to prevent a wound dehiscence (open up).

Thanks so much! I remember the nurse at the hospital telling me to wait til they fall off, but my hubby was getting concerned because they are starting to look dirty here and there.. It made me queasy just thinkin about removing them! I go for my 2 weeks follow up on Wed, so I am sure they will check it out then Thanks so much for your quick response!!! Have a good night!

Nooo I would not remove steri strips. They will fall off!! You can clip the edges if they start peeling back. Unlikely to happen but the steri strips are there to prevent a wound dehiscence (open up).

I would wait till they fall off my husband was the same way as a matter of fact he kept offering to remove them

i was a naughty girl and took them off myself. i could see under them and tell that my skin was already closed up. i went really slow and held my skin tight as i took them off. i didnt have any problems from this. my girlfriend waited for her doc to do it for her and she ended up with green puss coming out of hers and she had to be put on antibiotics. also one of her incision sights had the internal stich pop out of her skin.

i made sure to keep mine clean, and i did put on some triple antibiotic cream for the first few days after i removed the steri strips. i waited until day 5 before taking them off as well. good luck to you.

I waited but on my 2 week visit, which was actually 12 days out, my doctor told me I could peel the rest off. A few fell off before hand but I could tell that my skin was pretty much healed. Still I waited until I got the "go ahead" from the doctor.

the NP removed mine at my one week post op. She said with the amount if glue used it would take forever to fall off. I was worried but she said its stitched inside too. I'm sure it would be fine, but don't if you feel uncomfortable with it. Good luck!

Do not remove them. You can trim the ragged edges. But your Dr. Will take them off.

at my 2 week my PA took them off, but, my big incision site opened up on me a bit and had to go to urgent care and re-steri strip my big incision site for another week. I would wait. the smaller sites should be ok, but, the big one dont remove.

Absolutly NOT!!

YOu have to leave them on until they fall off. They WILL fall off when they are ready to. Don't worry, they will. I think mine did about 2 1/2 or 3 weeks out.

Kelly

I did take mine off early -- between one and two weeks, but I was starting to get a reaction to the bandages. I had a drain, and for the first week was changing the bandage every day.

When they took the drain out at one week, they put a band-aid over it. The band-aid fell off the next day, and it had already left a red rash where the band-aid was at. I took all the steri-strips off at that point. I was getting a reaction under a couple of them. I've never had a reaction to bandages before.

I was kind of surprised about the reaction. It did clear up after a week or so. I haven't used any bandages since then to see if it would happen again.