These instructions are for patients who have had excision with sutures (stitches) performed at Spot Check Clinic.
If you suspect a problem, we are happy to review your wound at any time after your procedure for any reason.
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Procedure day
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Rest the area. If the procedure was on your arm or leg, keep the limb elevated. Avoid stretching the area or any heavy lifting/exercise until the wound has been checked by a doctor or nurse and the stitches removed (up to two weeks later).
If the wound is on your face or head, avoid lowering your head, which may increase blood pressure abd bleeding. Keep your head elevated on extra pillows while you are resting.
If the wound is sore, take paracetamol and/or codeine. Avoid non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen as these can lead to bleeding.
If you have a crepe bandage, leave it on. If it feels too tight—especially if your arm or leg is becoming numb—loosen it slightly after one or two hours.
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1 day later
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If there is a crepe bandage around the wound, you may remove it.
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3 days later
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Remove the plastic dressing and any padding underneath. You may need to gently wet the padding to ease it off. You may shower normally and get water on the wound, but do not immerse the area in water (e.g. swimming, baths) until the stitches have been removed. Leave any tape on the wound until you have your stitches removed. You can shower as normal and gently pat the area dry. If the tape comes off, replace it with Steri-strips or Micropore tape.
If you wish, you can return to the clinic for low level light therapy. This is a light-based treatment which accelerates wound healing and may reduce scarring. (Please note that there is an extra fee for low level light therapy.)
If you have a medicated silicone gel, e.g. Epicyn or Stratamed, apply it gently three times daily. You can apply it over the top of your Steri-Strips.
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5-7 days later
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Pathology results should be available. Depending on the arrangements you have made with your doctor, check your email and/or text messages. Your result will be available in writing, together with further information and advice from your doctor, via the MoleScope/Dermengine website and app.
If the pathology result shows a serious skin cancer or anything complicated and difficult to explain and understand in writing, the doctor will call you to discuss the results before releasing them to you in writing.
Return for a second post-procedure session of low level light therapy.
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Until your stitches are removed
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Remember: Don’t stretch the area. Avoid heavy lifting or sudden movements.
Shower as usual, but don’t put the wound underwater.
Keep tape over the wound. Unless instructed otherwise, no dressing other than the tapes is necessary.
Continue applying Epicyn or Stratamed three times daily.
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5-21 days later (depending on your doctor's advice)
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Return to Spot Check Clinic to have your stitches removed.
Your doctor will have advised how many days your stitches should stay in. This may vary from 5 days for some wounds on the face to 2 weeks or longer for wounds on the back.
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2-3 months
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Your skin takes several months to return to maximum strength. Continue to avoid stretching and heavy lifting for at least 2-3 weeks.
To minimise scarring, you can continue to tape the wound and/or use silicone gel (Epicyn, Dermatix, Kelocote or Strataderm) twice daily for the next 2-3 months.
If you wish, massage the wound twice daily for about 10 minutes at a time
Do not use vitamin E cream. There is no evidence that it promotes wound healing.
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Excision fees
In many cases, the fee for your excision will not be known until after we have received pathology results. In general, the fee is higher for procedures on technically difficult parts of the body and if the procedure is large. These factors are known at the time of performing the procedure. But the amount paid by Medicare is also dependent on the pathology result: Medicare pays more for melanomas and other skin cancers than normal moles and other harmless lesions.
The pricing model is complicated. The most common fee we charge is abut $230 but it can vary up to $800 or more for a complicated skin cancer excision, especially if it involves a skin graft or flap repair.
We will contact you to arrange payment of your excision fee when we have received your pathology result.
Note: Sometimes we already know the diagnosis because we have already performed a biopsy. In these cases, we request payment on the day your procedure is performed.
How to reduce scarring
After the stitches are removed, there's still a lot you can do to reduce the amount of scarring.
- Avoid stretching the area for another few weeks
- Apply silicone gel daily
- Massage the wound after the surface if the skin has healed
More information...