I'm 2 weeks post-op now and the stitches are slowly dissolving, but how long does it take for the nipples to heal?

i had mine covered with gauze still until about 4 weeks so i'd say about 4 - 6 weeks. guess it depends though.

Does any of you put anything on them before cover them with gauze? My surgeon just told me to keep them dry especially after shower, so I only cover them with gauze when I have to put clothes on.

Quote from: tjack77 on May 29, 2016, 12:09:13 AM
Does any of you put anything on them before cover them with gauze? My surgeon just told me to keep them dry especially after shower, so I only cover them with gauze when I have to put clothes on.

i pat dried my chest for the first month or so until everything was healed and closed. so i pat dried my nipples then put gauze over them. i did this with and without a shirt on because i rather be safe then sorry.

It depends what stage of healing they're at. If they were still scabby or noticeably healing on the surface, I put neosporin on them before covering. I think I stopped covering them completely after a month, but I did moisturize once a day or so if they seemed really dry.

I'm getting rash/skin loss from these damn Band-aid square bandaid adhesive to keep the yellow gunk on my nipples. Is the medical tape any better? I can go to drug store today but not sure if I should bother.

I found CVS Gentle Pads (band aids for sensitive skin) to be a lot easier on my skin than regular band aids or paper tape.

I just bought Tegaderm (recommended by a friend who also gets rashes) and will report back.

I recommend keeping the bandaids off when you are at home and just be shirtless. Put the cream on and leave it be.

My chest incisions are healing as the stitches are falling off now, but my nipples are concerning.

It's been 3 weeks since surgery and my nipples are still scabby, I mean none of the scabs on the nipples had starting to come off yet, and the stitches are still pretty solid. Most of the post-op experience videos / photos I've seen by 3 weeks, part of the scabs should have come off already... I'm starting to worry I might be loosing my nipples...

On the bright side, I finally went out of the house wearing a tank top for the first time since puberty!

I wish I had big old scabs like that. By the way, Tegaderm worked out okay (no adhesive, no rash) but it did pull up a fine layer of skin, not quite a blister, so I actually went back to the Bandaid, with caution. Using a lot of Vaseline on blisters/rash right now.

I'm worried I've messed up my nipple grafts. Please talk me down. They've both bled a lot, especially when I take that yellow medicated gauze stuff off every day. Skin has come off and it got all pulpy. I thought I had yellow pus coming out of one and have picked at it a bit but now I realize that was subcutaneous fat-eeeek!

I'm totally terrified of this whole process. Since I have no nerve sensation, I don't know if I'm harming myself. HELP. 

A picture without anything on them would help us determine if they look normal.

If you're really concerned, can you go to your doctor? Even if it turns out this is normal, it's better to be safe than sorry...

Ditto what Alex said. Posting a pic will help. If you are very worried, emailing a pic to your surgeon or their nurse would be good.

Hey, sorry guys. I lost internet for a week because ... long story. It's temporarily fixed but, anyway. I will try to see about taking some pics.

Also, I'm going to post a cautionary note about Tegaderm. It's not really meant to be removed daily and it can keep your wound site too wet. I kind of switched back and forth because the Band-Aids were causing terrible rashes and blisters. I also cut the big Band-Aids in half to try to minimize the skin damage.

Here they are, best pics I could get. You can see the yellow. Not all of the stitches have dropped out yet. 3.5 weeks post op.

Maybe try some Xeroform. You can get it on amazon. I used it until my nipples healed up and had no problems with it. I just changed it everyday.

I'm using that. I've used it since +1 week. I think I should have been able to stop by now but as you can see I'm not healed.

Hey at least you have nipples! i would just keep using the xerform and neosporin. I think I kept using that and covering them with gauze for about 3-4 weeks. Some people go 7-8 weeks with them covered.

Good to hear I'm not alone needed to keep them covered longer.