Burns Support Group

When I was burned in 2003, I had skin grafts over much of my body in many operations. They used thousands of staples to hold the grafted skin in place. Some grafts were taken off my unburned and partially burned skin, some were artificial grafts and some were cadaver skin (shudder!) As parts healed they removed the staples that they could but the skin had grown over them in many places and so they left them.
Over the first 18 months of the healing process some of them worked their way out naturally but many of them are still under my skin. I can feel a lot of them in some parts when I run my fingers over them and when I kneel down they prick me sometimes. I can only guess how many are still in me but I think it must be a lot, perhaps hundreds as I set off the metal detectors at the airport security gate!
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this and if you have any advice for dealing with it. The doctors advice was that “if my body needed them to come out it would push them out and if not, then they won’t do any harm left in there” However, they make me very uncomfortable and I just don’t like the idea of them being there.
Your thoughts please.
Michael.
Posted on 04/25/07, 06:04 pm