I have a 2.5" long incision on my upper chest courtesy of a mole excision. The surgical site is healing nicely. I’m changing the pads on it daily, and reapplying the petroleum jelly, but the itch from the tape is driving me crazy, and the area where the tape is is much more red than the surgical incision! So far, I’ve tried paper tape and hypafix. Band-Aids are too small.
Any suggestions?
Wear a snug t-shirt and skip the bandage.
Would KT tape work? Or is your current surgical tape made of the same type of material?
Have you tried putting some hydrocortisone cream on the part of your skin that is irritated by the tape?
@arabrab we have a need in our family that requires the use of tape for prolonged periods of time. We use Nexcare Sensitive Skin Tape. It has been a life saver.
A. Use a single strip of tape, and rotate the position each day so it’s not on the same spot for more than one day
B. Alternate between larger and smaller pieces of gauze so you’re taping on different parts of your chest
C. Get the athletic wrap that sticks to itself without adhesive and wrap it all the way around your chest in lieu of tape
Thank you! I will try these ideas. Rather amazing that the tape is causing more trouble than the incision.
I think we develop these little allergies as we get older.
Sounds like you are having an allergic reaction to the adhesives. I’d contact your MD.
I am allergic to the adhesive on the tape. It is noted on all of my medical records. They use some kind of other tape when I have surgery.
I had surgery, and the tape caused welts to develop…which felt awful.
There are different kinds of tape you can use…ask.
I’m allergic to tape after surgeries too. Normally bandaids don’t bother me, but there’s something about the stress of surgery that exacerbates the reaction. One time I had a perfect snowflake of red marks from rotating those darn bandaids. The last time I had a biopsy I asked them to use something else and it was much better. The athletic wrap worked well for me too.
There is COBAN, which adheres to itself with NO adhesive. It’s at most pharmacies and pet stores. Below is a website with a sample, talking about what I mean. You would use the bandage and then cut a piece of Coban long enough to overlap over itself for 6 inches or so and the bandage will stay put nicely. (Yea, I’m allergic to adhesives as well and have only used this product when I need any bandage, including when they do blood testing on me.)
http://www.vitalitymedical.com/coban-self-adherent-wrap.html
I am allergic to many surgical tapes and some band-aids (a family of chemicals called carbamix but not to vinyl) and I was able to use J&J waterproof tape (the pink one) for five weeks to hold a splint for a broken finger. Through frequent hand washing and showers. Very soft and smooth. It creases along with your skin and doesn’t come off…
I knew this group would come through for me! I’m trying the nexcare sensitive skin tape tonight, since it was available at the drugstore. I have a roll of Coban, but I don’t know how it would work since the incision is on my upper chest. Would I wrap it around my entire chest?
I’m also going to check with the doc tomorrow and find out how important daily bandage changes are – I think at least some of the problem is removing and reapplying tape every single day – not looking forward to two more weeks of this, that’s for sure. I’m also going to ask about just wearing a t-shirt at night to give the skin some recovery time. For this morning’s bandage change we folded the bandage differently so that the tape would mostly go over some new spots.
@arabrab Good luck, hope one of the options brings you the relief you seek so you may heal more comfortably.
There is also a special bandage you can use that you leave in place until it drops off. Its sold under several brands like Nexcare Tegaderm. That’s what our D used when she had a mole removed. You can leave the bandage on until the wound dries out and the bandage will fall off. It let’s the wound drain while its covered and it is waterproof. It leaves no sticky adhesive when it falls off.
You might just want to call your doc and ask. It sounds like an allergic reaction.
I had a reaction to a post-surgery wrap a few weeks ago and still have marks from it. I just called my doc and they said that reactions happen quite frequently and told me which alternative usually works for people. Picked it up and it worked.
I always make my doc’s office my first call because I figure I’m not the first one who has reacted to x, y, or z thing.
Good luck! I know how much it sucks when the recovery is worse than the surgery.
Paper tape is often more hypoallergenic. Yes, agree, call your Dr.'s office for their suggestions. Contrary to your opinion, I think you are better off with daily dressing changes to avoid longer exposure to any certain piece of tape. Tear tape in half lengthwise to minimize skin exposure. Star pattern? No the coban would not work for your entire chest.
Also check to see how much longer a bandage is required.
The stitches come out tomorrow!!
The Nexcare sensitive skin tape has turned out to work really well. Using overly large bandages some days has also let me shift the tape to different places.
Many thanks for all the suggestions.