Leaving staples in a little longer than 14 days recommended by surgeon - Better scar????

[pre-screened]

Considering leaving staples in for a little longer than the 14 days recommended by my surgeon. I'll also ask him but wanted the communitys view.

Reason for doing this is this is my second FUT and laxity was a definitely reduced vs FUT no.1 and things were a bit tighter for sure post-op........so I'm somewhat concerned around stretching (1st surgery was OK scar wise about average I'd say) and given that the wound significantly increases strength in the early part of the healing it seems all things being equal leaving the staples in for longer will reduce the probability of stretching.

Dont trust me Dr.Bernstein seems to think so leaving them in during certain cases for 21 days - https://www.bernsteinmedical.com/answers/when-are-surgical-staples-removed-after-hair-transplant/.

They don't bother me so think that 18 or 19 days will be fine for me. Any downside anyone can think of?

Again I WILL talk to my surgeon also 

[LaserCap]

Pre-screened...I don't mean to hammer you....but...did you go to medical school?  Why are you questioning the Doctor?  Why go to him in the first place if you've taken matters into your own hands?

Alright.....at a glance...staples? Why? Seems this is a thing of the past.  

Why do you think things were tighter post op?  It is common to feel this after an FUT procedure.  Did the doctor say anything specifically about this? The doctor will typically check elasticity before he gives his recommendation.

How wide is the scar?  Why is it that way?  Did you sleep flat after procedure one?  Did you, perhaps lift weights? Perhaps this is the way you typically heal. Wound healing and how you scar has a lot more to do with physiology than anything else.  Hopefully you did  nothing to aggravate the situation.

"wound significantly increases strength in the early part of the healing" Where are you getting this stuff from?

Leaving sutures for an extended time will typically leave unnecessary marks. I would clarify this with the doctor that performed the surgery.  Not sure what, exactly, the staples will leave....19 days seems like a very long time.

[Curious]

I had a skin cancer removed and the surgeon directed me to leave the stitches in for 45 days, to achieve a better closure.  I think your question is a good one.  Please post your doctor's response.

[DrTBarghouthi]

I personally believe you should take the doctors advice regarding the removal time. Leaving things longer is not always a good thing as you could increase the risk of pain, obvious scarring and infections. It is of course needed in some case when healing is slower than usual based on medical conditions (diabetes, cancers etc), however, reduced laxity does not necessarily mean that it needs to stay longer. 

In fact in some cases, staying longer unnecessarily could be related to widened scarring too. 

Was the wound closed in two layers or just the staples? 

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Pre-Screened, 

In theory, your logic makes sense; the longer you leave them in, the longer the wound has to heal without tension, and the better the scar. In reality, there will be diminishing returns for leaving them in past the recommended period. Eventually any benefit you may -- and may is the operative word there -- achieve by removing tension on the wound would likely be nullified by the increased inflammation caused by leaving a foreign body in for so long. I close the vast majority of my strips with staples, and 14 days is the longest I recommend leaving them in. I have had a few patients go as long as 20 days or so for various reasons, and I have not noticed any better scarring from leaving them in for a few extra days. I have, however, noticed increased inflammation and a greater difficulty taking them out at 20 days versus 14. 

Hope this helps! 

[Melvin- Admin]

Great responses, 

I think you should always follow your surgeons recommendations. They exist for a reason.