Getting the goop off the incision

[enkaynj]

I still have some goop (kryptonite ??) in my sternum incision that continues to annoy me when I wear a undershirt. My surgeon suggested that I could rub vaseline on it and remove it with a washcloth. Not working too well for me. Does anyone have any better ideas ? How long does it take for the goop to wear off on its own ? I am afraid to pull on it for fear of opening up the incision.
Thanks

 

[Freddie]

Not sure what kind of goop your referring to I don't recall having it myself. Baby oil might work or even hand lotion.

 

[Lynlw]

Not sure what kind of goop your referring to I don't recall having it myself. Baby oil might work or even hand lotion.

I was wonderring too. Enkay, how was your incision closed? You didn't mention staples or stitches, so guessing you had some type of glue. On the outside did you just have glue or did they use steri stiips (kind of like cloth tape?) sometimes they use one long one down the incision and others lots of short little ones across the incision.

 

[Mentu]

Three weeks for me. One of the things that I forgot to ask before surgery was about how the incision would be closed. on seeing it for the first time, I was a little surprised to find it covered with what looked to me like Saran Wrap and with no stitches at all. I was careful of mine also and never tugged on it as I, too, was a little afraid of opening it up. After I got home, I never scrubbed the area but just sort of dabbed at it with the antibacterial soap. While taking a shower on day 20 after surgery, it just disintegrated. I didn't actually notice it was gone until I was drying off and found just my skin with a simple line down the chest.

The basic guide line is that the incision should be healed over by the end of the third week. After that, you should be able to scrub the area as much as your skin will tolerate.

Larry

 

[ksoly]

I have internal stitches and my incision was covered with surgical glue. (Felt like super glue) I was released 4 days post surgery and could shower right away at home. I was gentle and didn't scrub, just dial soap and a clean washcloth and rinsed it. The glue started to crumble off after about 2 weeks. One little piece stayed on until the nurse removed it at my 1 month follow up. Apparently, I should have removed it sooner, but I assumed you treated it like steri-strips and wait for it to fall off. She said it could trap bacteria and cause infection. So, if it's the surgical glue, you can start removing it after a week or two. My surgeon said he only glued it so I could shower right away since I wouldn't need to be hospitalized as long as most patients due to my age.

 

[Bina]

I still have some goop (kryptonite ??) in my sternum incision that continues to annoy me when I wear a undershirt. My surgeon suggested that I could rub vaseline on it and remove it with a washcloth. Not working too well for me. Does anyone have any better ideas ? How long does it take for the goop to wear off on its own ? I am afraid to pull on it for fear of opening up the incision.
Thanks

Kryptonite is the bone cement that some surgeons are now using to help fuse the sternum bone quickly.
I think maybe what you are seeing is the incision glue and that is supposed to dissolve or wash off after a couple
of weeks.
My surgeon used staples on me which were removed after 10 days and replaced with Steri Strips.
Home nurse cleaned my incision with sterile saline solution.

 

[enkaynj]

I think my situation is closest to what ksoly has written about. I didn't know that leftover glue could cause infection. I will try to scrub it with a washcloth tomorrow. I do not have external staples; The incision looks clean except for some rough glue patches at the very top.
Thanks everyone.

 

[normofthenorth]

My recent 48-hour Holter-monitor electrodes were attached with some new-fangled super-aggressive adhesive tape that was pretty painful to remove and left goopy ridges at the tape's edges. I worked at them with baby oil, fairly gently but over and over, and a few of them left little areas of missing skin! So I wouldn't take a big backswing when you crub the goop.