Slowly entering the summer, many cleft lip repair friends will have such a worry: in a season like summer, after the cleft lip repair surgery, will definitely sweat, if you wipe the wound frequently, will it affect the wound recovery?
Actually, this worry is a bit unfounded. Wiping sweat has little effect on wound recovery.
The healing process of a scar has its own rules. It is a complex and orderly process that can be roughly divided into three phases: inflammatory, proliferative, and maturing.
The inflammatory phase is the initial stage of scar healing, when the blood around the wound clots to form a blood clot and releases various inflammatory mediators that attract immune cells to the wound to remove dead tissue and bacteria in preparation for the subsequent healing process.
Then comes the proliferative phase, which is about 3-4 months after surgery, which varies from person to person. It is a process that must go through any surgical procedure. The main task of this stage is to fill the wound, which is achieved through the formation of granulation tissue and the proliferation of collagen fibers. Fibroblasts play a key role in this process, as they synthesize large amounts of collagen fibers to form granulation tissue that gradually fills the wound. This is a general law, specific to different people, different parts, the proliferative process is not the same, there are certain individual differences.
Finally, it's time to mature. At this stage, the collagen fibers continue to synthesize, but at a slower rate, and the arrangement of the collagen fibers becomes more orderly. Over time, the scar gradually softens, flattens, and the color gradually approaches the surrounding normal skin, eventually forming a relatively stable scar structure.
There is no obvious scientific evidence that the wiping action causes irritation to the wound, so there is no need to worry. Many people sweat and even play sports after surgery, which does not affect our wound healing.
And what really has a stimulating effect on the wound is actually the diet. That's why I've been emphasizing the importance of postoperative abstinence.
For example, spicy and irritating food will definitely irritate the wound and cause capillary hyperplasia, and the microscopic reaction will be much more obvious. Including some personal physiques, after eating seafood, it is obvious that the wound will itch, or there is some stinging feeling, so everyone must follow the doctor's instructions to pay attention to their diet after going back.