Wound Care After Repeat Squamous Cell Carcinoma Surgery

Step-by-Step Cleaning and Dressing Routine for Fragile Skin

The type of surgery you’ll have for CSCC depends on things like the size of the cancer, its location, and how likely it is to return or spread. Your recovery will be somewhat different for each type.

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“My primary recommendation is to follow your surgeon’s specific postoperative instructions, since wound care varies depending on the procedure, wound location, and method of repair,” says Ostad. “In general, patients should keep the original dressing in place for the period recommended by their surgeon.”

The surgical site may have been closed with stitches, or it may be open — healing from the inside out. In either case, it’s important to keep it clean.

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You’ll probably be told to keep the wound dry for at least the first day or two, and possibly until your follow-up visit.
Follow the surgeon’s instructions for washing the wound, and pat dry very gently with a clean gauze pad or a clean dry washcloth.
Many surgeons will recommend using cotton swabs to put a neutral ointment such as petroleum jelly on the wound to keep it moist.
If you’ve been told to keep the wound covered, replace the dressing with an adhesive bandage that’s the size of your wound or nonstick gauze and paper tape to hold it in place.

“This process should be repeated daily as directed until the wound has healed or the surgeon advises otherwise,” says Ostad. “I generally recommend avoiding unnecessary friction, picking scabs, or applying antibiotic ointments unless specifically instructed, because some people develop contact allergies to these products.”

If you have stitches, your doctor will give you instructions on when they need to be removed. Some dissolve on their own, which may take up to two months.

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If you have strips of surgical tape (such as Steri-Strips) holding your wound together, leave them in place. They usually come off by themselves within a week or so. It’s normal to see dried blood on the strips, so don’t get alarmed unless the wound is actually bleeding. If they don’t fall off on their own, your doctor may take them off at your follow-up visit or tell you to peel them off.

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Your doctor may tell you to put an ice pack on your wound site every hour during the first one to two days after surgery to reduce bleeding, pain, and swelling.

Most surgeons will recommend acetaminophen (Tylenol) if you’re sore from the procedure, but advise against aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen (Aleve). Both of these pain relievers can interfere with blood clotting and increase the risk of bleeding.

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