How long do steri strips stay on?

I am 8 days post op and still have all my steri strips and most of my band aids on. I thought I was told after a week I can take them off but I do not recall. I still have the tegaderm and gauze on my port site. Should I just wait for all to fall off on their own? Michele

Generally steri-strips fall off by themselves in a few days. That seems like an awfully long time to keep incisions covered. Most surgeons like to have incisions left open to air. A tegrederm patch over the port for 8 days just seems like it would be inviting an infection becuase if memory serves me right, they are air tight occlusive dressings. I would double check with your surgeon, but I suspect your incisions should no longer be completely covered. Jo-Ann

Hi Jo-Ann I was wondering that myself. They did not elaborate too much on this and I did not ask I just figured they would come off on their own but, they havent yet. I think it might be time to start taking them off. the incisions are internally stiched plus glued on the outside. I am sure they must be healed by now. Michele

All of my incisions were closed with Dermabond glue and none were covered with any dressings. I liked that they were left open to air because they stayed nice and dry and seemed to heal very quickly. Also, it made checking them for infection much easier since there was nothing covering them. My surgeon told me I could start to shower the day after my surgery and I could wash the incisions gently with soap and water and pat dry. It worked great and my incisions healed beautifully. Jo-Ann

I took off the gauze and clear bandage after a day or two. I was told to let the steri strips fall off on their own and still had a couple at 2 weeks that were stuck firm. Give the hospital or docs office a call (you can speak to a nurse) to make sure. I know you want to keep them dry and there is always a little discharge - you would think that it would be building up under that clear stuff and staying damp? Good luck, Lynn Banded 9/12/05 300/215/140

Steri-strips can stay on til they fall off, since they only cover a tiny bit of the wound and are meant to help hold the edges of the wounds togethere while they heal. but very good wound care with dressing changes is needed. We request our patients to wash the wounds with an anti-bacterial soap 4 x a day, apply bacitracin, and a clean bandaid. I don't recall any wound infections at all with our clients with this protocaol. Port infections, specially, can be very serious, so good wound care is very essential. Wounds that are covered with old, dirty dressing, damp, kept from light, are at big risk of infection, I'm afraid. Call your doc about all this, but I'd get those old dresssings off very quickly, wash the wounds well, and apply a clean bandaid. You can't even assess signs and symtpoms of an existing infection unless you can see the sounds several times a day! Sandy R

My doctor told me to keep them on for 24 hours and then they were to come off.

Hi Michele ~ my steri-strips came off after about 3 or 4 days. My dr. instructed me to daily take off the bandaids before I showered, dry the incisions and put Neosporin on them and clean bandaids. But I had an allergic reaction to the bandaids that I bought. (Pic on profile.) I started off with a Walgreen's brand and tried Bandaid brand and they both just ate my skin up. When I'd peel them off, my skin would come off with them. By about the 4th or 5th day, steri-strips and all bandaids were off. Really weird that I had an allergic reaction...never had that happen before. How are you doing with the hunger? Did you get that under control? Melodie

Hey Melodie!! I did get it under control since I found a protein I can tolerate. I have dropped 10 pounds and am prepared to gain some when I can have real food but, this is the bonus time so I am OK if I do not lose much during it. I went to work Weds and had terrible terrible gas pains in my left side. Not just shoulder, all from the ribs up. I took the next day off and my boss had me take today off too so that when we open the office on next Weds, I will be ready to roll! How are you doing aside from the band aids. I did take everything but the steri strips off. Michele

I had an appt. with the nurse practitioner 1 week after surgery in which she removed the steri strips. She made a comment that they take forever to come off by themselves. So 1 week was enough time for them to be removed.