Post-Surgery Aftercare

Relax and take it easy. Vigorous exercise or heavy lifting could cause the wound to bleed.

When the local anesthetic wears off, you might feel some soreness or discomfort. You may take paracetamol (2 tablets every 6 hours). Do not take aspirin or anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, since they increase the risk of bleeding. The same applies to alcohol.

We might have covered the wound with a dressing. Please keep it dry.

You may see a small amount of blood on your dressing. This is normal, however, if the bleeding continues:

• Apply firm pressure with a gauze swab over the dressing for 15 minutes.
• If bleeding still continues, apply an ice-pack for 15 minutes to the dressed area. A simple ice-pack can be made by placing a bag of frozen peas into a dry plastic bag, this avoids wetting the dressing.
• If bleeding continues contact us on 07909806944.

48 hours after your surgery

REMOVE YOUR DRESSING. IF IT SEEMS VERY STICKY OR DIFFICULT TO GET OFF, YOU MAY NEED TO SOAK IT OFF IN THE SHOWER.

After the dressing is off, you may get the wound wet and shower or take a quick bath. However, do not soak the wound for prolonged time.

Using clean hands, you can apply a film of vaseline over the wound once clean and dry to help with the healing process.

What to expect afterwards?

For the first few days your wound may be tender. There may be swelling and bruising around the wound, especially if it is near the eye. The area around the wound may be numb for several weeks or even months. You may experience periodic sharp pain as the wound heals. The stitch line will look dark pink at first and edges of the wound will be reddened. This will lighten day by day.

In addition to the superficial stitches, we might have used some deep sutures. These will not need to be removed, since they dissolve on their own.

If despite all the above measures there are signs of an infection such as a fever, or redness, warmth or foul-smelling drainage from the wound, you should contact us on 07909806944.

Sutures

Once the stitches have been removed, the scar will still be weak and might break down if you are not careful. Any exercise which might pull your scar should be avoided for another couple of months.

Scar Care

You can start using silicone scar gel or patches around 3 months after your procedure. Please do not use bio-oil as this has no clinical evidence of reducing the appearance of scars.