After Care

Table of Contents


Infection Prevention and Control

Bandages

Stitches

What Not to Do

Infection Prevention and Control


This is your primary concern after your implant. any infection will screw up your healing and cause rejection. To combat this, buy a tube of triple antibiotic ointment from your local drug store. There are several brands but they should all have the same things in them. It'll run you 10-12 bucks but save you a world of nightmares. Immediately after the implant you should have covered the fresh wound in a small dab of this stuff. Re-apply often as you change your bandages. Furthermore this regime should be continued for at least 2 weeks, ideally until the wound is completely closed and even a bit after that just to be sure. When changing a bandage, rinse off with sterile saline (also from the drug store, comes in a squirt bottle or you can use contact lens solution) then reapply triple antibac and a fresh bandage

DO NOT GET IT WET.

This cannot be stressed enough. Unless you are using sterile saline, which you should have a bottle of as well, water will contain bacteria that can lead to infection. To shower, put on a latex or nitrile glove on the wounded hand then tape the bottom closed and to your arm so that water cannot get in. Same goes for washing hands. Avoid it getting wet at all costs. If it does rinse with sterile saline and reapply triple antibac.

Bandages


Immediately after implantation a sterile gauze pad will likely be wrapped around the wound. Do not remove this for several hours. After 5-10 hours you can change this out to a large-ish bandaid or Tegaderm with triple antibac. Continue to change the bandage twice a day, once in the morning and once at night at least, for a minimum of 2 weeks, more is better until the thing is totally healed. This cannot be stressed enough. You must keep it bandaged. This will prevent infection and keep pressure on the wound to help it heal. After the first week you can let it have some air. When you change the bandage you can give it the rinse with sterile saline but then rest it on your desk, keeping it elevated and not touching anything for a few minutes. Let a bit of fresh air get to it to make sure the area doesn't become waterlogged. Once the pruning dissipates and your hand is dry, triple antibac and then back into a bandage. After the first 2-3 weeks if you feel that a bandage is unnecessary at least keep a butterfly closure on it to keep the pressure. It'll seem crazy for such a minor wound but this is still surgery and your body is trying its hardest to get rid of the foreign body you just put in.

Stitches


Stitches are a hard thing to give an exact timeline for. For single stitches (for smaller implants like finger magnets), they can come out anywhere between 3-5 days later but use your best judgment based on how you're healing. For multiple stitches many people wait 7-10 days without complications. In either case the longer you leave them in, the larger the chance of infection. The less time, the larger chance it'll rip open and you can lose the magnet/implant. Keep the wound very clean, check the site with each bandage change and you should be fine.

To remove them a small pair of scissors, which you first sanitized, can be used to gently cut the stitch on one side of the knot, then gently use a pair of tweezers to pull the stitch out. Or if you have the patience you can get a doctor to do it for you.

What Not to Do


NO. HOMEOPATHIC. ANYTHING.

This is surgery, there is no grandma's famous elixir to be used on this. Stick to the above protocol and do not deviate. No herbs, no other ointments, no flour, nothing. Triple antibac or bust.

Don't give up on bandages. They are important. Keep the damn thing wrapped or you could reopen the wound or lose your magnet.

Extra aftercare


There exists evidence to suggest that exposure to both blue wavelengths of light [1] and near-infrared [2] can significantly improve the time it takes for wounds to heal. Sunlight, fortunately, contains both of these. Direct exposure of a wound to sunlight may improve the time it takes to heal, ideally for a few minutes before bandages are changed.

Final Note


DON'T PANIC

References

[1] Light therapy by blue LED improves wound healing in an excision model in rats
[2] Mitochondrial signal transduction in accelerated wound and retinal healing by near-infrared light therapy