My Stitches Itch!

[onimity]

vitamin e worked well for me too...

ouch!

[singletrackmind]

I always take my stitches out early and I never go back to the doctor to have them do it. Does that make me a bad person?

If you are then so am I.

[maryellen]

I used Neosporin Scar Solution for my scar following shoulder surgery after my crash last August. It looks like a big band aid with silicon on the wound side and you can use as many as needed to cover your scar.

It can't be used until the wound has healed. Not only did it seem to help the scar heal (even my surgeon and physical therapists were impressed and asked what I used on it), but it also felt really nice (without it I felt discomfort when the incision came in contact with anything, including my own clothing).

Downside--even more expensive than Mederma. But I'm worth it!

[Veronica]

Thanks! I've got at least another week with the steri bandages or whatever they are.

I am so itchy! I have a little bit of poison oak on my left arm and all the scratches from various plants are itchy. My owie is itchy. My eyeballs are itchy because I've been up since 3:45.

I'd take a bath, but I get bored after 5 minutes and feel like I've wasted the water.

Thom should be glad it's itchy and not b itchy.

[makbike]

Veronica:

I used vit E oil on my incision sites and it helped to stop the itching. I certain feel your itchiness.

Have you tried Zanfel on the posion oak? This is the only stuff I've found that really works. I had a terrible case of posion ivy a couple of years ago and was getting ready to take myself to the doctors for some steriods when a friend suggested Zanfel. I rushed to Wal-mart and picked up a tube ($40) and took it home. As soon as I applied it and rinsed it off the oozing, itching sites felt 1000% better. The itching had stopped and the wounds began to heal quickly. Sorry, I don't mean for this to sound like a paid advertisement for it is not but this stuff is amazing. It works better than oral or injectable steriods and without the possible side effects that accompany steriods.

I hope life returns to normal soon!

[margo49]

Sea buckthorn oil also known as Siberian oil or in the Original Russian (transliterated) "oo-blee-peee-kha" (This last syllable is the guttural "ch" in German). It is(was) a berry and by the colour I would guess it has a lot of Vit E. It was one of Ghengis Khan's 3 secrets of success (as wounded Mongol hordes recovered from wounds which would have killed lesser mortals)
[The other 2 were stirrups and discipline!]
I used it to great success after Russian immigrants told me about it. It is available at Natural Health type shops.

[Veronica]

The poison oak is wierd. It is just this little three inch section on the inside of my left wrist. I have no idea how I got it just there.

I've never had it before, so I googled it to get a picture.

V.

[jobob]

When I had my mini-crash a couple of weeks ago my arm started to get a bit blotchy later that day and I was worried that I might have picked up some poison oak, so I went to Walgreens to buy a tube of Zanfel.

The Walgreen's store brand - they call it "Poison Ivy Wash"- has the same active ingredients as Zanfel but cost $20 instead of $40.

(Either the store-brand Zanfel worked great, or it wasn't poison oak after all, since the blotching went away quickly and it never became itchy)

[amymisk]

My plastic surgeon reccommends silicone based ointment/cream and scar massage. Basically, massage the silicone ointment in circular motions twice a day for a few minutes until the scar looks like you want. The massage helps flatten out the scar and the silicone is an amazing skin protectant. I found silicone products at Wal-Mart or CVS in a small tube that cost about $8. There are more expensive items, but what I used worked, but I cannot remember the name. It may have been new skin, but there was definitely "skin" in the name of the product. It was near Mederma and other scar treatments.

Do research and try something. I am happy with the results for my scar.

[margo49]

Yeah, I did one of those silicon creams for a very little while. (It was given to me by a physio-therapist). It was kinda weird sensation and then I found out about the Siberian oil from "my main PT" and I liked it much better.
Scars are weird anyway. I mean as long as they don't go keloid on ya the dr's can't complain so use whatever is available and suits *you*. Some injuries you feel like Doctor knows best and some injuries you just want the nice smell and colour of Siberian oil. Best to stick with the plan tho' once you have found something you like. (You will know pretty quickly if you feel it's "for you" or "not for you". Healing Instinx)
You basically have a scale that starts at "primitive" (eg freshly peeled papaya skin, raw propolis), moves on through "natural" (eg Siberian oil, wheatgerm/Vit E oil ) to "state of the art medical technology" (eg silicon cream).
I've done them all at various times and would say they all worked too.
I've got the scars to prove it!
Keep us informed!

[spokewench]

I had a similar elbow rip about 5-6 years ago, but I did not get stitches. It took forever to heal because of that, and I did not use any creams once it started to heal up and close. I used I think Neosporin or its generic twin before it started to get scabbed and closed.

I don't have a bad scar without using anything so I think it probably depends on the person.

spoke

[btchance]

For scars, we always tell people to use vitamin E cream. To help reduce scar tissue and keep the skin mobile, after you get the skin a little slick with the Vitamin E cream or lotion, massage the scar in circles (but wait until the steri strips fall off so you don't disrupt the healing process!!)

Glad you're going to be okay after all of that.

[solobiker]

My Dr once told me that during the early stages of wound/scare healing it is not a good idea to use Vitamin E as it disrupts the cologen formation. Once it is healed it is okay. what you may want to also do is some light massage over the area to decrease the risk of adhesions below the scare tissue. The best type of massage is small presure in small circular motions.

[KnottedYet]

We generally tell folks to leave the incision/cut alone until there is no more open skin. (after the steri-strips fall off, for sure!) Unless you've got complicating factors, your body is the best expert and has the best method of healing the juicy new injuries. Leave it to it's own devices.

After you have a nice fresh real scar (no ooozy bits or thin rip-able pink bits) use whatever you like best, but we warn folks NOT to use a product containing petroleum jelly or mineral oil or other petroleum derivative, as they can clog up the new skin and also be very drying. (my rule of thumb is "if you wouldn't eat it, don't put it on the new scar")

When the scar has matured a bit you can safely use petroleum stuff, silicone, scar release/massage, etc.

[bikerz]

Just a cautionary note (and seconding Knot's comment above)- I think it is best to put the vitamin E (cream or oil) on after the scar is completely closed, so you don't run the risk of infection. I know of someone who did get an infection from applying vitamin E oil before the scar had completely healed.

I hope it feels better soon!