Revision TKR Lovetocookandsew’s long road to recovery

[lovetocookandsew]

It's now 3 weeks and a day. My OS told me to let the steri-strips "fall off naturally" which was fine with me. Except now it's been 3 weeks and they are barely beginning to loosen at the edges. If anyone has any ideas to "help" them "fall off naturally" a little faster, I'm open for suggestions. They're way too stuck on to just pull them off, and showers aren't working, so any other ideas? Thanks.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

House guests are gone now and hubby is actually enjoying himself setting everything to rights, doing laundry, putting things back, dusting, vacuuming, cleaning the front bathroom, changing my sheets, airing out the strong perfume that's lingering in my sewing room and killing me, etc. I wish I could do it as I enjoy cleaning my house after having guests. It's nice to have company, but it's always also nice when they are gone and we have the house back. And since it limited me in where I could safely walk, it'll be really nice when hubby puts everything back and the pathways are clear again. I don't understand why, but every time I tried to walk past my table, it had been moved and I couldn't get past it. I know why the chairs were always in my way since they were in constant use, but the table being moved constantly I don't get. Oh well......

 

[Celle]

My OS told me to let the steri-strips "fall off naturally" which was fine with me. Except now it's been 3 weeks and they are barely beginning to loosen at the edges. If anyone has any ideas to "help" them "fall off naturally" a little faster, I'm open for suggestions.

I'd start picking at the edges!

 

[lovetocookandsew]

@Celle I would except they're glued on so well that it would actually hurt. As you can see from the picture, there's one that was placed over a couple other strips and it's slowly coming off, but the rest are well-glued and barely loosening at the very edges. The one that is actually loosening snagged itself on my blanket this am and it hurt like ! Man, he really glued these suckers well!

 

[sistersinhim]

House guests are gone now and hubby is actually enjoying himself setting everything to rights, doing laundry, putting things back, dusting, vacuuming, cleaning the front bathroom, changing my sheets, airing out the strong perfume that's lingering in my sewing room and killing me

Can you send your husband over here? My house could sure use some of that! He sounds like a dream come true!

It's strange about that table. Maybe someone else kept moving it, thinking it wasn't lining up correctly, having a Monk moment! I can't imagine how aggravating it would be to have to constantly watch out for stuff in the way while using your walker. You two enjoy your peace and quiet!

Are those strips on top of a glued incision? If so, it might be a while yet before they come off!

 

[Celle]

Gee, that's really overkill on the steristrips!

I've nursed in the UK and in NZ, and neither of those places uses so many. At the most, we'd put one steristrip every couple of inches, not cover the entire incision.

This policy of "Wait till they fall off" is an American thing, too. Even when the wound is brand new, they only need to stay on for 5-7 days.
It's over 3 weeks since your surgery. Your skin should be well healed by now, and in no danger of splitting apart. The steristrips are only there for reassurance (yours and your surgeon's).

For sure, remove the one that is on top of the others.
I can see a couple of corners that are starting to lift.

Why not remove alternate steristrips? Start by working at the edges each side of the incision. Lift and pull the edges from each side, towards the incision.

When you remove the steristrips, nothing is going to split open again. All the layers of tissue beneath the skin are stitched together, so they'll stay just as they are now.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

@sistersinhim Yes, they're on top of a glued incision. Hoping they fall off soon.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

@Celle I'm not worried about the incision opening, rather the pain involved if I pull on them after experiencing the pain from just one snagging earlier. There is a lot of scabbing under them and that would hurt like if I pulled on them. So I wondered if anyone knew a way to help them fall off without hurting myself.

 

[Spex10]

Sorry. Can't help you. One of mine came off by itself but I don't think it was very well stuck on in the first place.

 

[Mutti3]

Mind looked like yours. When I showered, towel dry those strips a little firmer. Picked at the edges as well.

 

[Txmomgmom3]

Wonder if you used a little vitamin e oil on the edges of the strips if off would start to break the contact to the skin?

 

[KarriB]

No, you don’t want to put anything lotion or vitamin E on an incision at this point. My steri-strips took weeks to come off. I did let warm water run over them and patted them dry. I think wearing my PJ pants helped because they rubbed the strips a bit causing the sides to come up a bit and then they began to lift themselves.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

For anyone who is wondering if icing and elevating are effective, here are two pictures to show how well it works. On Friday, my knee was swollen, red and painful. I don't know if I did too much and caused it, although I don't think I did, or if it was just part of regular healing. Either way it wasn't a happy knee. The first picture was from Friday, the second was today after a lot of icing and elevating. It's hard to tell from the picture, but my knee was also red from swelling. All of it disappeared after I&E. Too bad icing doesn't remove hair on legs....that'd sure be great. Oh, and one of the steri-strips fell off today...now for the rest.......grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Pumpkin]

Looking good, Kim!!
Keep up the hard work of rest, ice, elevation, and being bored.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

@Pumpkln

 

[sistersinhim]

One down, 13 to go! You're on a roll! It's amazing how much I&E helps in this recovery. As I had said before, I was addicted to ice! As soon as I sat or laid down, that ice was on my knee! This went on for a couple of months. I keep ice packs in the freezer even now, just in case!

 

[beachy]

Remember when our kids were little and losing teeth? That's what came to mind with your steri strips LOL. Losing your first steri strip is like a little one losing their first tooth. It gets loose and falls out. And the strips kind of look like teeth
How is your pain?

 

[Jockette]

We need a Steri Strip Fairy!!!

 

[SusieShoes]

It’s amazing how much knees (lots of them) love elevating and icing. I think I did it every non-walking or standing moment for six months. Happy knees! Your’s looks quite relaxed and happy.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

@sistersinhim That's funny. I never even thought to count them, until you said that. It's hard to tell in that picture, but there are really 16, plus the one that fell off. Sheesh! I don't know if my OS is always that strip-happy, or just went crazy on my knee, but I'm sure he has his reasons and methods. I'm not going to second-guess him on this. Have I mentioned I love my OS?

@beachy The pain varies, but is bearable. As long as I ice a lot, it isn't too bad, but if I am up more and not icing, it does ramp up, so I still ice the majority of the time. If I'm down, my knee is on ice and up, even all night long, although I do move my LD aside some time during the night and sleep on my side as I sleep better that way.

@Jockette