Can my wound re-open?

I am 20 dpo and just had my first cig and i feel so guilty, i am scared to have my wound re-open as i already have delayed healing in one spot. I removed my stitches a week ago and i had drainage from a certain spot and the doctor said this spot’s healing is a little bit behind and i have to use antibiotics and cover it for a week and delay my smoking for another 10 days to ensure it closes completely, however I broke down and just had a cig. I’ve always had this fear of having a wound reopening, when can i rest assured that my wound will not reopen? After how many days?

I’ve never smoked so i really can’t relate to the addictive side of it, however would really recommend you do everything you can to follow your surgeons advice. Have you tried nicotine replacements? Is there anything else you can do when you feel like you need a cigarette? If it’s triggered by stress for example, what about doing things to manage your stress like taking a walk to offloading to a friend?

I’m not sure when wounds are fully sealed and I imagine it varies by person. Mine were fully closed over by 1 week and I was told by the nurse I can remove my dressings. I saw my surgeon today (week 2) and he said give it another week for them to become really ‘robust’ before putting lotion or scar treatment on them.

I doubt 1 cigarette will make a huge difference however the fact that by 1 week a non smokers are fully healed, I guess it shows how overall it does affect recovery.

@holly he told me after 5 days that it was fully healed but he will wait for another 10 days to remove the stitches and then he did remove them at day 15 and asked me to start my scar gel routine within 2 days ( they give the wound 2 days after stitches removal before you can shower or put any scar gel because stitches leave small holes behind that close within 24-48 hrs) anyways when I went home and for the few days following i used to have transparent yellow liquid like plasma draining from one spot so i went back to him and he said you sometimes get delayed healing in certain spots and it’s normal but i should keep it covered and go back to putting antibiotic ointment on it for a week and can put my scar gel on the rest of the scars. So i am assuming everything else must be sealed right? When is the safe mark as to when i reach it i know my wound will not reopen? For example 10 days for bleeding after surgery so if you reach 10 days and you dont bleed then you will not, 30 days for infection so if you are beyond 30 days you have most likely crossed the danger of getting a wound infection. You know what i mean?

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