Question

What are the normal symptoms after getting stitches?

Answer 1

The normal symptoms after getting stitches are mild bruising, mild swelling and some slight redness, which often peak around 2 to 3 days after the stitches.

Other normal symptoms after getting stitches are mild tenderness or even some itching as the wound heals.

Its also normal to have some light and clear drainage or a couple drops of blood after getting stitches and the initial symptoms often go away within a few days.

Having some slight soreness is also normal after getting stitches, but the soreness should go away over 1 to 2 weeks.

Getting stitches is considered a minor surgery and it involves using surgical techniques to close the lacerations or wounds and is often performed under local anesthesia, in which the area will be numbed and can be performed in an urgent care or office setting.

After getting stitches you often return home the same day and it's considered an outpatient procedure.

Wounds that should not be stitched are wounds that are clean, shallow or small cuts that are less than 0.25 in deep/0.75 in. long.

Other wounds that should not be stitched are minor abrasions, minor bites from animals or humans and also deeply contaminated, puncture or old wounds.

Wounds that are often older than 8 to 24 hours should not be stitched and closed as it can trap bacteria in the wound and cause infections.

Minor and shallow cuts, like superficial scratches or cuts that have smooth edges, often stay together on their own and don't need to be stitched.

Puncture wounds, like narrow and deep wounds, like from stepping on a nail are also difficult to clean and closing them by stitching them can trap bacteria and so they should not be stitched.

Skin tears, like delicate, paper thin skin tears, are often not stitched.

Abrasions like superficial scraping of the skin surface should not be stitched and are often not stitched.

Old wounds, like wounds that are older than 8 to 24 hours old, are likely already infected and so they are not stitched as they can trap in bacteria.

Bites like animal or human bites are also high risk for infection and so are left open often and not stitched.

Dirty wounds and contaminated wounds, with dirt, debris, rust etc often are not stitched as they often need to be left open to prevent infection.

Even if your wound seems small you should still seek medical attention if you have any bleeding that continues after 15 minutes of applying direct pressure, or if the wound is deeper than 0.25 inches or shows fat, muscle or bone.

Or if the wound is on the face or over a joint.

Or if the wound was caused by a rusty, dirty or foreign object or if the wound was caused by a human bite or animal.

Wounds that often do require stitches are wounds that are deep and over 1/4 inch, longer than 1/2 inch, gape open or continue to bleed after 10 to 15 minutes of direct pressure.

If the bleeding is uncontrollable and the blood is soaking through bandages and or spurting or you cannot move a finger or limb properly, which suggests nerve or tendon damage or if you have dirt, debris or foreign objects that are deeply embedded in the wound.