When I left hospital on Wed. th 30th my nurse said that I could remove my dressing from the surgical wounds when in two days so I did this Friday. She said that after a shower, however they had to be replaced. So now it is Sunday and I am so sick of all of this tape and what not. It is the tape that is bugging the crap out of me and really tearing up my skin. Any idea when I can leave this stuff off for good? I don't want to take any chances. I still have steri strips on my 6 little holes tho and I know those shouldn't be removed at all. Any advice? I am going to call my dr tomorrow but just checking to see what yall think.

What ever the Dr tells you. You don't need to deal with an infection.

When I went in to have my surgical staples removed at one week out, my doctor told me to stop with the bandages. The only reason I even had them on that long was that I didn't want the staples to catch on anything.

Tough question, stick with whatever your doctor had. I am soooo glad I had glue over the steri strips! Those peel off my skin and scar me!

I can't answer that question cause I didn't have any dressings over my incisions.

I took the bandages off during my first shower, but the steri strips stayed on until they came off on their own over a period of showers.

Check with your doctor. I didn't have any dressing as I had no stitches or staples. My incisions were glued with surgical glue (a new item I suppose).

My bandages were removed the day I left the hospital. I only had the steri strips and My surgeon said to let them come off in my showers. I was super glued together no staples or stiches on the outside.

I had my surgery on March 18 and I had the same problem as you. My skin was itching because of the tape and the gauze, under that was steri strips. At about 1 week out I was able to remove the gauze and tape and then when I went to the doctor they removed the steri stripes. Just call your doctors office and ask them.

I left my waterproof bandages on for 5 days after she changed my bandages in the hospital. They looked great after that.. I would still call your Dr. and ask.. Good luck in your jurney!!!

Amber, are you using 4x4s because your incisions are draining? Paper tape or silk tape is much gentler to your skin than the regular sticky tape. You can find both types where bandaids are sold. If you're not having a problem with drainage, please check with your doctor about whether or not you need to continue wearing the 4x4s.