Drains

I am now two weeks out as of last friday and I have to see dr. tomorrow. I was wondering how long can drains safely stay in the body? I know that he wont take them out until I have less than 30cc in a 24 hour time but how long can that take. I heard some say a week some longer at this point I dont see him taking them out tomorrow. I am just concerned about infections or other problems any thoughts would be great  I also cant go back to work with them so I am concerned.

had my last drain in, for about three weeks. i was on antibiotics while i was still draining. during the third week it started to itch like hell. it wasn't infected, it just itched. just some info for you, hope this helps.

I had mine out at 2 weeks .. the one thing I did was drain the drains all the time to keep the suction at a maximum.. just make sure you wash your hands and keep everything really clean sanitized.. I used a lot of antibactieral and alcohol wipes..

I think there are some on-line that had drains in for months.. mine really started to hurt after a while.. I was happy to get rid of it in 2 weeks.

Michelle

In addition to  keeping your hands sanitized, did you use the wipes around the drain openings?

Why does everyone seem to itch.  Is it the tightening of the incision as the scabs form, or is it the meds...or both?  Does benedril help, or do percriptions have to be written in extreme cases?

Surgeon preference.

Mine pulls at 3 weeks regardless of the output.

In my career I have seen other plastic surgeons wait 5-6 weeks.

My doctor pulled one drain at my first follow-up and left the other 3 in.  They came out at my 2 week follow-up which was 15 days after my surgery.

I think it is important to stay positive about having drains.  They are there for a reason.  I would much rather have the drains in place that have a complication like a seroma or a dehiscence.  I thought of them as tools to my healing, not pains in the a@@ (which they are). 

Attitude really helps in healing.

Kay

Mine were in 6 weeks with no infection. I figured out a good system to keep them hidden, but they were definitely a giant pain in the butt.

Hope they come out soon.

Denise

thanks everyone I visited the dr. today a he took the drains out I am 18 days out and he said he did not want the risk of infection. the out put was very close. according to him all my healing right now is text book. I guess this is good I cant wait to take a shower and go back to some normalcy

When I had the lower body lift they left the drains in for almost 3 weeks. I have a vid on youtube about how to clean them and when the doctors took them out!

http://www.youtube.com/user/jenniferhammond88#g/u