I have some really thin sutures (7 of them) and the clinic is closed on the weekends. Obviously I shouldn’t remove them if I want to go by the book, but what’s involved, other than <snip> <tweeze> <snip> <tweeze> etc.? What are the worries and risks?
Besides your flesh falling apart and death? I suspect that it greatly depends on where they are and if the wound is actually sealed, but why go at it on your own? If you need to see a doc later they are going to ask you why you went at their area of expertise with some lefty-scissors.
Because I’m left-handed! The issue is that it’s in my face, and they should come out today, because the wound is sealed and the longer they’re in, the more scarring I’ll get from the sutures themselves.
But I suppose, if done improperly, it could lead to death 50-70 years from now.
I’m actually going to go to the hospital to get it done, but I’m curious.
If your wound isn’t sufficiently healed and/or if you use non-sterile scissors, you could get an infection. If you aren’t careful with your scissors, you could cut yourself. If you pull too hard on the sutures, you could conceivably cause a new injury. Aside from those risks, I don’t think there’s anything else. Our vet had us remove our own dog’s stitches once, but we weren’t too worried about scarring.
If there’s a help line for the clinic, you might try calling that. Alternately, if you really want those sutures out today, you could see if you can get the on-call doctor on the phone to ask permission.
Is this a medical opinion, or your own?
Why not put the vanity issues aside for the weekend and have the doctor do it for you when it’s time.
The biggest concern is that you don’t remove them properly. There’s not a lot to it. You pull on BOTH ends of one suture with some tweezers, and cut BELOW the knot, on ONE string of the buried loop, with some scissors.
Personally, I don’t care if my patients remove their own sutures providing they do it properly.
In my experience, “railroad tracks” from sutures fade pretty well. Two days’ wait won’t kill you. An infection, on the other hand, could eff you up right good.
IMHO this is a great way to save $50. I don’t really see how sterility comes into play very much. I use a pair of nail clippers to clip below the knot and jerk out the stitch. The clippers never even touch my skin.
Exactly what my doctor said when I wanted to do mine. It was easy. My GF actually did the deed, as she was an experienced seamstress. 
Vanity didn’t enter into it. I was stoned, we were having a good time, and I didn’t feel like going to the hospital.
I did leave the eye surgery stitches to the doctor.
Peace,
mangeorge
I had to pull my own stitches, out of my face as a matter of fact, a few years ago when the doctor who put them in got flooded out of his office. (really). Just cut one end off at skin level and pull on the other end. Pull as close to parallel with your skin as you can There’s a small possibility you might drag some germs under the skin at the suture locations.
[sub]Disclaimer: Poster is not a doctor and has been known to do things he has been told not to do. Follow his advice at your own risk. [/sub]
I do note that a suture left in place often creates a pretty messy infection. It is important to do it properly. Officially, I’m not recommending it to anyone who is not my patient. It’s not hard to do, though.
Personally, I think this is one of those cases where, at the docs discretion, the patient could (at the time of initial treatment) be sent home with a how-to pamphlet.
I removed 8 stitches about a month ago. I swabbed them (and instruments) with alcohol, then used a needle-nosed pliers and the scissors on my Swiss Army knife. Quite easy to do, and no problems developed.
Note that when you go to a hospital or doctor’s office, there is at least a small risk of infection by germs from other patients.
I removed my 4 year old son’s sutures on his forehead once. Could have gone to the doctor, but really didn’t see a need to. I was careful of course, but it was very simple, quick and painless. I’m sure if one weren’t careful you could pull back open a wound or cause an infection or such, but it seems like those are pretty unlikely especially if you’re careful.
When he actually had the stitches, I asked the doctor if there was anything I needed to watch out for when removing them, and she freaked out as if I were planning on putting my son’s life in danger and gave me no advice, insisting that I bring him back in to have it done by professionals. Needless to say, that pretty much settled her credentials in my mind and I’ve made it a point to avoid her for future medical events.
I had to remove my own (external)stitches after my vasectomy operation - they were supposed to be self-dissolving, but they showed no signs of doing this even after quite a long time - my doctor refused to do it, telling me to go back and see her if they were still there in six months’ time.
Removing them wasn’t easy, as the surrounding skin had kind of enveloped them, so there was a fair bit of pulling and swearing involved before I could expose enough of the loop to (very carefully) slip the end of the scissors in.
I did say TMI
I would make sure to clean the tweezers and/or scissors with rubbing alcohol before I took out the stitches. Also make sure you keep an eye on the area for swelling, redness, or drainage. If that happens, schedule an appointment with your doctor.
A note: Stitches self-removed with cleaned scissors, tweezers and the like are one thing, but leave your stapled wounds alone. You’d need a staple remover and I don’t recommend trying to fashion a substitute at home from the contents of one’s kitchen drawers…
In most cases suture removal should be part of the “global” service. Each surgical procedure has a global period designated by the insurance company. All routine care related to the procedure within that period is considered part of the surgery, and therefore already paid for.
Complications are another story; same for anything beyond the 14-, 30-, 90-day or whatever global period.
This may vary, so you should ask if it’s an issue. Suffice to say that in most cases, you needn’t to take out your own sutures for financial reasons alone.
I’ve done it at least a half-dozen times in my long life of getting minor bang-ups from my own stupidity. My doctors have always said I could and it was never a problem for me.
IMHO, it’s easy to remove your own sticches than to deal with those darn butterfly bandage things that are supposed to “fall off” at the right time and the glue stuff (which I’ve had once.)
I think how much of a scar one has is a gene thing, not an injury or how long the stitches were in thing.
I’ve done it once (only had one stitch) it was in my bottom lip, I think it was supposed to be self dissolving, but it wasn’t doing so. I just cut the loop with my swiss army knife, and pulled it out with my fingers. I think the constant rubbing of the knot on my lip was more of a health hazard than removing it.