Metal Mouth Message Board

I was told by my surgeon that he put a stitch in my nose to prevent it from widening.

Does anyone know where the stitch might be?

I ask this because right after surgery, I kept picking my nose because there was so much clotting that breathing became difficult (sorry for the gross factor). I want to know if I might have damaged the stitch or hindered any healing.

I also wonder if the stitch might have come undone. Is this possible?

Is there any blue thread sticking out on either side outside your nose? My stitch was on the outside side of one my nostrils not inside.

Oh, your stitch was outside? No, i don't have any stitches outside my nose.

Hmm, this makes me wonder if my surgeon put in the stitch or not.

Well he did a bunch more things to my nose besides that so maybe I'm not thinking of the right stitch??

Interesting....

then I wonder what my lovely stitch was!! It probably wasn't an alar then.

I had an alar stitch and trust me - it isn't easy to break that puppy! It may make your upper lip feel tight, your smile may look goofy, and it can be a bit painful if you pull at it (like laughing or having the ortho pull your cheek), but it does the job.

I guess I don't understand how something like an alar stitch would work. Isn't it simply holding back soft tissue and/or skin? And once it's cut or removed, won't the tissue that it's holding just go back to how it was?

Yeah, I don't really understand how an alar stitch works too. My lip does seem tighter but my nose width seems to be the same as before.