How Do You Tell If A Suture Scar Is Healing Well?
A suture scar may be painful or itchy. It may be darkened, raised, flat or concave. It may be lumpy or a combination of these. Scar tissue will go through many changes over time. Look at the wound in good light. A mirror might be needed, depending on the wound location. Normal healing occurs in stages: an immediate two- to five-day inflammatory stage, when swelling and tenderness are normal; a proliferative phase of two days to three weeks, when granulation takes place, and a remodeling stage that lasts from three weeks to two years. Determine which stage the wound is in and assess for normal healing. Is the suture scar one week old with some yellow granulation? That would be normal. Is it three weeks old and swollen and tender? That would be abnormal. Check to see if edges are aligned, or if gaps have opened along the suture line. Because many interrupted sutures are typically used to repair wounds, it is usually not a problem if one or two of them break or come out. But if there are
