I recently had stitches after a margin of skin was removed due to melanoma. my upper stitches have been removed but i still have the disintegrating ones and the area where they are is in so much pain i don't know what to do.?

Stitch Abscess: Absorbable stitches can last for months and are recognized by the body as a foreign material. Like any other foreign material, they can become infected and form a small pocket of pus around the stitch known as a stitch abscess. Treatment is removal of the suture.

If healed, remove : If the wound is healed, you could have them removed as well. Dissolvable sutures produce an inflammatory reaction to break them down, and this can cause minor pain. You would wan tho have the wound checked to ensure that there is not an ongoing infection at the biopsy site. This could cause pain as well.

Get it checked: Dissolving stitches can take 2 weeks to 8 weeks depending on which type of stitch was used. Your body sees this as a foreign material and responds as such (with inflammation) as it is dissolving. The worry is your body may be rejecting the stitch in which case you may get a stich abscess and or infection and these need to be evaluated by the doctor.

Massage: Hi morgan, the pain you are experiencing may be due to scar tissue development. Try massaging the area. You can use any cream. Scar tissue will develop for the first 6 months after surgery. The next 6 months, the body starts to soften the scar. But you can help this with massage.

See your doc: The internal sutures should not be causing you pain. The pain should be improving over time. If you pain seems to be getting worse i would see your surgeon. Any signs of infection? Redness, drainage?

Not from stitches: While stitches do hold the wound together long enough for the body to heal, they are not painful. Increasing pain may be due to infection, bleeding or insufficient circulation. Please check with your surgeon to be certain everything is healing well.