Dissolving Staples for Closure of C-section

Hello T.,

Congratulations on your addition to the family and while I congratulate you I wanted to let you know that I've had two C-Sections. I was told that they will dissolve on their own and the steri-strips that cover them will need to be kept dry as possible. When you take a shower (NOT a bath - too much soaking time) make sure that you dry them thoroughly (maybe dry them with low heat from hair dryer) as to not cause an infection as the lady before me. My doctor also said that I needed to monitor my incision as well to make sure that everything is closed up properly. If you have any questions you need to call your OB to get more details.

I don't scar very well and now my incision looks like a silk worm forgot where it belonged and rested on my abdomen! The things women go through that men don't! Take care of yourself and your new baby!

April

I never had a c-section but my cousin did and had those same things. Be very careful her's became VERY infected. DO NOT take a bath - you want to keep those things as dry as possible. Moisture creates bacteria and bacteria causes infection. Her's became infected tho because she was up cleaning her house the day she came home from the hospital I think when she should have been taking it easy.

I have had 3 c-sections and my doctors have always told me I couldnt take a bath and not to let too much water get on them in the shower.

Do not submerge yourself in water as long as the steri-strips are on. Do not pull the steri-strips off, they will start to come off on there own or curl up on the ends and you can trim the ends off but DO NOT pull them off, you could re-open the incision. Look at your incision every time you go to the bathroom to make sure you are not having any discharge or drainage from it. Call your MD asap if you start having redness around the incision or yellow discharge from it or if it has an odor. Infection has a very unpleasant distinct smell. I work for a surgeon and we tell our patients as long as there are staples, do not submerge them in water and make sure you dry the area good after a shower. Just keep an eye on it to make sure there are no signs of infection or the incision re-opening.