Wound Care Advice - lip wedge excision

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Dressing

Your dressing will be BREATHABLE and therefore will NOT be watertight.

The wound should continue to be dressed for the first 2-3 days, or until there is no fresh blood on the dressing.

If a dressing becomes damp from water, sweat, wound ooze or food take the dressing down, gently swab it with normal saline (salty water) soaked gauze, allow it to dry and then redress it.

Once a dressing is no longer required apply Vaseline to the wound twice daily.

 

Eating

In the first 6 hrs after the procedure stick to cool or warm food or drink as your lips will be numb and you may accidentally burn your lips without realising.

Food will also need to be to be soft, easy to chew and not need to be bitten as this will delay wound healing and may causes the wound to reopen.

Foot can gradually get more texture over the next few weeks, but you should avoid any foods that would put pressure on the lips e.g. a crunchy bread roll in bahn mi for 6 weeks.

Eating will take time to begin to feel normal as the shape of your mouth has changed.

 

Bleeding

There may be a small amount of bleeding from you excision on the first day. This is NORMAL. Please do not disturb the dressing.

Slight bruising is normal, if you are concerned about the bruising or feel pressure from the bruising contact me.

It the dressing soaks through with blood, squeeze your lip between the thumb and the forefinger either side of wound line. After 10 minutes stop to assess if the bleeding has stopped. If it hasn’t call me or come straight into our clinic if we are open. Otherwise seek urgent medical care.

 

Pain

It is normal to have a small amount of pain for up to 24 hrs after the operation, when applying pressure to the wound site or on movement/stretching of the wound site. Paracetamol should be able to be control this normal/expected pain.

Avoiding movements which trigger pain will also reduce the risk of the wound tearing.

If the wound becomes increasingly painful, especially at rest or from the third day after the operation, please contact us immediately as this is often the first sign of infection. If you have been given antibiotics in case of infection NOW is the time to take them.

Do not wait for the wound to become grossly infected e.g. red and swollen with purulent discharge – if you have any concerns please bring the wound for review straight away.

 

Aftercare

It may be beneficial to apply a silicon-based gel into the wound e.g. Avène Scar Gel or strataderm into the site 2 times daily for 3 months. This will help to minimize the scar.

As mentioned above avoid foods which will stretch your mouth or put pressure on your lips.