How Long Did You Wear Steri-Strips?

[EllieD]

Ladies,

Ok so I have been on here complaining of pain. I went for my official two week post op a couple of days ago and insisted that they check under my tape then finally realized that the pain I am having is not from the incisions but that my skin is blistered under this damn tape. Did this happen to any of you? I know with a lift there is usually alot more tape involved then just a breast augmentation. They basically told me that leaving the steri-strips on as long as possible will make a HUGE difference in the outcome of my scars.
So much in fact that the nurse wants me to leave the rest of the tape on until it falls off on its own or for as long as I can take it. They gave me some new tape that I am supposed to "re-tape" the incisions with when the steri-strips fall off and leave it for months. The area that they re-taped with the new tape is thinner and feels much better and I can put Vaseline on the raw skin around it. Right now every move I make is pulling the blistered skin and it is not totally unbearable but I think that it is about to make me crazy. I am very active and if it wasn't for this I would feel great and be able to get things back to a little more normal but I have to be very careful right now because everything I do hurts. It is also holding back my abilitly to massage well. At least that's how it seems to me, but I don't want to chance making my FOREVER scars worse over a couple of weeks of discomfort.

What would you do?

[hairgirl]

I don't know? I had my original steristrips on for 6weeks(my ps couldn't believe they were still on) he told me to go home in the shower & remove them.
I guess you need to listen to your PS.

[tracy123]

so my PS removed ALL of my tape...And I havent had anything covering my scars since Day 3! I am now 3 weeks PO. Early on, I just had gauze in my bra. Then by day 6-7, scabs formed, then the scabs fell off, and now the incisions look good....He just today started me on this stuff called "Scar Guard" that is only sold in PS offices....its double strength of anything over the counter, and is made of Hydrocortisone, Vitamin E, and Silicone...its in a nail polish bottle, smells like nail polish, and you brush it on like clear nail polish every 12 hours...It dries after a minute, and by the time you are ready to apply it again, it has started to peel (just like clear nail polish would if on skin) and you peel off the remaining (so much fun for me...haha...weird I know) and re-apply it....He says it is the best stuff out there and really penetrates deep into the scar to thin out that hardened tissue, and fade the outer scar too...And he says it replaces any kind of incision massage, but I still mmassage the incisions anyways...I bet you could order some from Ebay or find it online somewhere....I paid $75, but I am sure you could find it cheaper....Basically, what Ia m saying is, in MY opinion if you are in THAT much discomfort, then take off the steristrips and ask your PS about something else to use....Or use the stuff I am using....I dont think it will make that much of a difference in your scar, if my Ps was ok with me not using it...he didnt even have them on me the first day of surgery....he just had gauze taped down on my skin...and the tape that was holding the gauze down was what made me get blisters, so he knew I was allergic...You have had them on long enough, and you deserve to NOT feel pain anymore...I have felt great since 7-10 days PO....Just look into something else...its not worth it...and there isnt even anything in the tape that is "healing", is there?? Its just keeping it protected and sealed....i would rather have something that has some active ingredients that are actually speeding the healing of the skin...This thing I just started using actually forms a seal on my scar (like clear nail polish) so it protects but it also has 3 of the most proven ingredients to improve scar healing....sorry you are uncomfrotable....just my 2 cents

[tracy123]

My PS actually said that the BLISTERS themselves can leave marks....The one area that I developed blisters on day 3 is still VERY visible! He has me using Hydrocortisone just to make that fade....And I know he was very against anyone using the tape if they are allergic to it and getting blisters....I am surprised that your PS was ok with letting you keep on using it if youa re reacting so poorly to it?? Doesnt make sense? How can your scars heal if they are soo irritated? Let me know what you decide to do

[Bloom]

I had my stitches and tape on for 6 weeks and the tape was really irritating my skin. Dunno if 6 weeks was too long to keep the stitches in (PS insisted) but now I have scar-marks from them, hope that will fade with time..
Can you ask for different tape, perhaps?

Warmly,
Bloom

[Horizon41]

I never had them so I guess I am not help so like why am I posting here
Oh I got it CC in the brain OK OK I am trying to cheer myself up now I will go away.

[beckybee]

I kept it on for 6 weeks with my second breast augmentation which included a lift, but I continued to use it even longer for my scars. I've had two breast augmentation's and both times, I used steri-strips. I noticed that I didn't react at all to the brown 3M steri-strips that were given to me the second time and I have very sensitive skin. What strips do you use?

[Kimberly]

I'm confused as to why they would have you leave the tape on if it's causing your skin to blister? I understand it can help your scars, but if it's causing blistering it doesn't seem worth it. My mom had the same reaction to the tape (blistering) when she had her hysterectomy. She actually thought she had accidentally been burned, but her doctor said it's a fairly common reaction to the tape.

[catsoul]

I had the tape on for a little over 2 weeks and it was changed at week 1. I developed a blister about 3 days after the surgery. I called my ps's office and sent them a pic of it (only to be sure it wasn't something worse than a blister) and they told me that it was a blister and to remove the tape from that area. Fortunately I didn't have any more than that one blister. I don't know why anyone would want to keep the tape on a blister.

[EllieD]

Originally Posted by hairgirl

I don't know? I had my original steristrips on for 6weeks(my ps couldn't believe they were still on) he told me to go home in the shower & remove them.
I guess you need to listen to your PS.

Hairgirl! Who's side are you on anyways? Lol! Thank you for your advice! That's why I asked.

[EllieD]

Originally Posted by VisionQuest

I never had them so I guess I am not help so like why am I posting here
Oh I got it CC in the brain OK OK I am trying to cheer myself up now I will go away.

VisionQuest.....You know we don't want you to go away!!!! You can stay with your CC brain and all, but IMHO when I am "stressing" about my boobs...I sometimes need to take a little break from this site. Get some rest and revisit it tomorrow. Today I'm not stressing...just complaining so I can stay as long as I want.

[EllieD]

OMG! Thank you so much for all of you for all of your input....So let me go back a little bit. If you look at my post op pics it looks like I got in a fight with a cat during surgery between my breasts! When I went for my first po appointment which was the next morning, I was scratching that tape like crazy and the nurse saw it was red and removed it immediately...and it immediately removed my skin. I have no idea why it was even there? Who can remember anything on those kinds of drugs? The tape or steri-strips that is around my areola and down down my breast covering the incision was a different tape. There was no redness or itching to indicate a problem because I called and that was the first thing they asked me, but it appeared fine.
I have only internal stitches...which may be helpful information when asking if I should remove the tape, so I am sooooo scared to f@*k it up and make it worse!
I have had multiple surgeries and I know sometime before surgery they asked me if I was allergic to any kind of surgical tape and I said no. I never had this problem before, but none of my other surgeries required quite so much tape and for so long I guess.
My aftercare instructions from the beginning were to leave the steri strips on for as long as I could and then they gave me a roll of Durapore Tape. I think that is the name, and I am supposed to keep the incisions covered with that tape for the next six months at all times. So far, that tape is not causing me problems, but I am also concerned about why they would just not have changed it ALL the other day? Now I'm wondering if there was more of a reason than the scars?
So tonight I removed the steri-strips from my other areola because that was where the nurse had removed it on the other breast so I was more confident, and then I put the new tape over that. Then I went down the verticle scar and loosened the edges and folded them over towards the middle so that I could get some air to the blistered area and put some medicine on it. I considered going ahead and trying to remove the strips from the entire verticle scar but the nurse had warned me where she changed the tape to be watching any irritated spots of internal stitches, and that if I noticed any I needed to come get them clipped off and removed at the PS office, so that made me extra nervous. It was still stuck on pretty good down the verticle incision so I was too chicken to pull it off....especially in the crease of my breast. It looks like where those stitches are, there might be a little lump which I hope is not a whole other problem.

Anyhow..thanks for your advice and thanks for listening to me complain! I wasn't sure if the internal stitch information might have changed your answer?

Gotta take my blistered titties to bed now.

[Akhmatova]

Originally Posted by EllieD

OMG! Thank you so much for all of you for all of your input....So let me go back a little bit. If you look at my post op pics it looks like I got in a fight with a cat during surgery between my breasts! When I went for my first po appointment which was the next morning, I was scratching that tape like crazy and the nurse saw it was red and removed it immediately...and it immediately removed my skin. I have no idea why it was even there? Who can remember anything on those kinds of drugs? The tape or steri-strips that is around my areola and down down my breast covering the incision was a different tape. There was no redness or itching to indicate a problem because I called and that was the first thing they asked me, but it appeared fine.
I have only internal stitches...which may be helpful information when asking if I should remove the tape, so I am sooooo scared to f@*k it up and make it worse!
I have had multiple surgeries and I know sometime before surgery they asked me if I was allergic to any kind of surgical tape and I said no. I never had this problem before, but none of my other surgeries required quite so much tape and for so long I guess.
My aftercare instructions from the beginning were to leave the steri strips on for as long as I could and then they gave me a roll of Durapore Tape. I think that is the name, and I am supposed to keep the incisions covered with that tape for the next six months at all times. So far, that tape is not causing me problems, but I am also concerned about why they would just not have changed it ALL the other day? Now I'm wondering if there was more of a reason than the scars?
So tonight I removed the steri-strips from my other areola because that was where the nurse had removed it on the other breast so I was more confident, and then I put the new tape over that. Then I went down the verticle scar and loosened the edges and folded them over towards the middle so that I could get some air to the blistered area and put some medicine on it. I considered going ahead and trying to remove the strips from the entire verticle scar but the nurse had warned me where she changed the tape to be watching any irritated spots of internal stitches, and that if I noticed any I needed to come get them clipped off and removed at the PS office, so that made me extra nervous. It was still stuck on pretty good down the verticle incision so I was too chicken to pull it off....especially in the crease of my breast. It looks like where those stitches are, there might be a little lump which I hope is not a whole other problem.

Anyhow..thanks for your advice and thanks for listening to me complain! I wasn't sure if the internal stitch information might have changed your answer?

Gotta take my blistered titties to bed now.

I had a mastopexy and breast augmentation and I had all internal stitches. He removed my steri strips the day after surgery (I didn't think much of it, then read some stuff from other women and was pretty surprised.) I'm kind of glad he did though, as I started spitting up stitch knots almost immediately and it helps because they were able to work themselves up easily and then my husband can just snip the knots. I occasionally get a "weepy" area, but putting a bandaid over it for a day clears it up, plus letting it air out. My incision area seems to be healing fabulously and I don't think I will get a large scar at all (Areola incision) so he must have known what he was doing lol. I know a lot of his patients have to keep their steri strips on for lots longer, so I am not sure why mine were removed so quickly, but I am very glad for it!!

[CAINAZ]

Mine were removed at 3.5 weeks after my first surgery. This time, he removed them at 8 days post-op. I dunno what the difference was. I had a benelli lift the first time and a lollipop lift this time. Makes no sense to me, since I have way more incisions now than I did then, but I trust him. He knows what he is doing. Having said that, I didn't blister from the steri-strips. I don't know how you are standing it.

[EllieD]

Originally Posted by CAINAZ

Mine were removed at 3.5 weeks after my first surgery. This time, he removed them at 8 days post-op. I dunno what the difference was. I had a benelli lift the first time and a lollipop lift this time. Makes no sense to me, since I have way more incisions now than I did then, but I trust him. He knows what he is doing. Having said that, I didn't blister from the steri-strips. I don't know how you are standing it.

Cainaz....Part of the reason I am scared to remove the tape is because I know that you have been having a hard time with your stitches and I'm afraid to cause any issues like that?
Lifting up the edges and giving some air to the outer edges has given me some relief, and hopefully that will help loosen the strips off of the actual incisions sooner.

[msadelaide]

I took mine off a couple of days ago at about 12 days post op. I was supposed to wait until Monday when I see the ps but didnt. My boobs were dropping and the tape was pulling. It hurt and actually bruised me on one side, it was that painful. Mine look like they have all healed. I can only see a feint cut line and the stitches are obviously internal because I cant see anything, just a cut line which looks fairly healed.

[CAINAZ]

Originally Posted by EllieD

Cainaz....Part of the reason I am scared to remove the tape is because I know that you have been having a hard time with your stitches and I'm afraid to cause any issues like that?
Lifting up the edges and giving some air to the outer edges has given me some relief, and hopefully that will help loosen the strips off of the actual incisions sooner.

Gosh, I'm sorry to cause you to worry. Taking the steri-strips off isn't going to cause stitches to spit. Most people don't have the issues I've had. Some may spit one or two, but not as many as me. Most people's bodies will dissolve the internal sutures with no problem. My PS says I am just extremely sensitive to sutures. My body doesn't like them and wants to get rid of them. If you are going to spit stitches, keeping the steri-strips on isn't going to help. They will still push their way up to the surface and will work their way out once the steri-strips are off. I would think that they could even get infected if they are made to stay in your body, because of steri-strips. Once they start working their way out, they need to come out, or they could cause problems.

[Genie]

My strips were on for about 6 weeks. The original ones were on for a month & then he changed them & said to leave them on for 2 more weeks. I didn't get any skin blistering & I actually liked wearing them weirdly enough. I felt like my new boobies were protected!

[CLM]

Was anyone told to wear Biodermis Epi-derm silicone gel sheeting scar circles? My ps told me to order these and anticipate wearing them around 3-4 wks post op (I'm currently 1 wk post op).

Just curious....
Thanks!

[candy09]

I had my tapes for 2 months, changing them everyday after shower. Right now I don't have to use it, but I do when I use a bikini to avoid the sun effects that would make the scars darker. (I cut the tape in half to make it thinner, just to cover the incisions).