AND I SAY UNTO YE, "OUT, VILE DEMONS!"

[nagia]

So, I just took the stitches out. And I don't mean, "Went to the doctor to have the stitches out," or "let my ex-nurse mother take the stitches out," I mean I got a tiny pair of scissors and two sets of tweezers, sterilized them, cut the knots, and pulled the threads out myself.

Before anybody goes "WHY WOULD YOU PERFORM AN OUTPATIENT SURGERY ON YOURSELF?" I am just going to say that I cleared it with my doctor this morning, and outpatient surgeries are expensive, and my insurance doesn't start coverage until August.

Comments

[rosehiptea]

Nah, I don't find that shocking. I went to the doctor to have stitches in my mouth removed and it took him approximately thirty seconds. Same for having the staples removed after my appendectomy, but obviously I wouldn't go removing staples by myself.

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

Even if it was covered by insurance, why should you take (probably) an hour out of your day (considering the commute, the wait time in the office, etc) for something that will take all of five minutes if you do it yourself?

But, you know, I'm strange, so don't mind me.

[novel_machinist]

I'll be honest, that's what I would have done.

[jaebility]

Heh, funny you should post about this - My boyfriend has five stitches that should have come out last Thursday. Trying to find a)someone to remove them b)who is in his insurance plan and c)has hours early/late enough that he can go without missing work is proving impossible. Maybe we'll follow your example and do it ourselves.

[nagia]

Ooh, if it's been that long, they're way likely to hurt coming out.

There's really very little harm in removing them yourselves. I'd suggest spraying the stitches with chloroseptic throt spray (it's 10% lidocaine), sterilizing your scissors and tweezers, and pulling very quickly but very carefully. He might bleed a very little from pulling them out, but that's from leaving them in too long.

[jaebility]

I've been nagging him to get them out sooner, but traveling and then returning to work has kept us both busy.

Thanks for the advice! If he doesn't get it taken care of by tonight, looks like I get to play the role of doctor.