Stitching Up:

Some cosmetic surgery procedures like otoplasty (ear surgery) make use of non-removable stitches which stay in place to give the newly shaped ear lasting support. While a surgery like a facelift makes use of temporary removable metal clips if the incision is made in the scalp area; plastic surgery procedures like liposuction or lipoplasty make use of removable stitches that dissolve within the first week of surgery.

Closing wounds and incisions with stitches that may be absorbable and non-absorbable depend mainly upon the type of cosmetic surgery performed. Other factors like the location and intensity of the wound, muscle activity around the wound and the healing ability of the muscle play a vital role in selecting the type of suture material to be used.

Among the absorbable stitches made use of to patch up incisions, the materials used may be either natural or synthetic in nature. Animal collagen is one of the common materials used for stitching cosmetic surgery incisions up.

For taking care of muscle tissues that require minimum support and for stitching up fatty tissue occurring below the dermal layer, plain surgical guts are the best. The fast-absorbing variety can be applied only externally, on the skin layer.

In case of a tissue reaction, plastic surgeons may make use of absorbable surgical gut treated with chromium salt which provides support for a longer time.

The plastic surgeons at the Plastic Surgery Institute of California pay as much attention to the basics of their practice as they do to the bigger picture. Patient safety and smooth and rapid healing of wounds is given a lot of importance.