Stitches!

[senecastudent]

I'm 16 days post OP--time flies--and all of my numbness is gone except for a spot in my nose and in my upper cheek, but both of those places have some sensation.

The problem is, since I'm not numb, the stitches in my upper jaw are agonizing. At the front of my mouth, any time I smile or talk, the stitches burn and pull. But more painful is in my cheek, where a stitch from my gums has embedded itself in my cheek, resulting in an omnipresent pain that worsens when I move my cheek at all.

A) does this sound normal or are my stitches messed up? And b) how long before dissolving sutures start coming out? I've had a very quick, relatively easy healing process so I believe my gums should be healing up just as quickly and the stitches won't be needed for much longer. Did your stitches start coming out around 3 weeks or did it take longer, like 6 weeks? Anything I can do to speed the process up?

[WiredJon]

Mine were removed after 8 days, and I was told in the hospital that 7 - 10 days is the normal window for removal.

[littlebird]

I'm 27 days post-op and only some of my dissolving stitches have come out. I still have a fair amount. I hear ya about feeling pain once the numbness starts going away. I've been taking Advil to help with it (not bad enough for anything stronger). On the bright side, at least you've regained most of your feeling back! Hang in there, hopefully the stitches will heal up in a couple of days and it won't be an issue anymore.

[Rockie2032]

This sounds painful. Im 4 days post op and still numb. I have dissolvable stitches and was told they will go away on their own in 2 weeks. I hope your pain goes away and the stitches do too.

[momo2015]

I went for my post-op around 10 days after my surgery and told the surgeon that I had a few stitches that were bothering me. He tried to pull a couple, some were not all the way dissolved and wouldn't come out. He trimmed those back for me and it feels SO much better. Maybe you could send if your OS could do something like that?

I have dissolvable stitches too, but he did say that with where the stitches are in the upper jaw and how little saliva they get it usually takes longer than the 10 - 14 days they would take to dissolve in other parts of your mouth.