I finally got to see Susan’s stitches. We went back to the ER to get them checked out. You’ll be glad to know that her temperature and blood pressure and pulse are all normal too. Anyone else think medical procedure is sometimes a tad . . . ridiculous? Not that I would switch our medical system for Japan’s, Mexico’s, Europe’s, or Egypt’s. Jury’s still out on New Zealand.
Although I am kind of concerned that the (CNA?) (Registration person?) (Triage person?) spelled sutures suchers.
We go back on Friday to get them taken out. Still in the dark as to why they used non-dissolvable. I should have asked: should not let my spelling-snobbery get in the way of the pursuit of knowledge.
Tags: ER, head wound, medical system, stitches
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Dissolvable sutures are designed intentionally to leave a scar — that is, they intentionally cause a very slight inflammation / reaction at the site, which as it heals causes increased strength in the wound. Also, they require up to three or four weeks to dissolve, also adding to the strength.
So you can see why we would never use them on the surface, where the wound would show. Rather, in the skin we use material that causes the absolute least reaction, and hence the least scar. That usually means nylon, but other materials used include silk and even stainless steel thread. Also sometimes used: stainless steel staples, because they are so easy to put in, and leave so little reaction / scar.
Such a sweetie! I HATE it when my kids get hurt. Probably much more than they do. Our most recent stitches were in my 12 year old son’s forehead. He ran straight into a bird feeder while playing football in the backyard with dad. We have multiple round, plastic feeders, but he ran into the $4 wood, square feeder and used his head to bust it into 5 pieces. Needless to say, I’m NEVER buying a wood/square bird feeder again.