There is currently no scientific study that has proven how to make dissolvable stitches dissolve faster. Although with that being said, all hope is not lost for we do have a theory on how to do it with a simple home remedy.
We’re going to present to you a very persuasive argument that extrapolates off of existing data and knowledge. It is up to you to decide whether or not there is any merit in our idea and give it a try. It’s absolutely harmless and there won’t be any side effects even if it doesn’t work, we promise.
Are you ready for what we’ve to say?
How to make dissolvable stitches dissolve faster
If you want your stitches to dissolve faster you can try drinking pineapple juice. Yes, the tropical fruit that has a pointy exterior, yellow flesh, and tastes sweet but tart.
- Drink 8oz of pineapple juice.
- Repeat for 7 days or until the sutures fall out.
Note: As a word of caution, we do not recommend doing this on the day of your surgery such as having your wisdom teeth extracted. You should start it about 2-3 days after the stitches have been in. The reason is because you don’t want the stitches coming out too soon. We’ll explain in more detail in a later section.
Yes, that’s it. We did say it was simple didn’t we? Now let us explain why we believe drinking pineapple juice or even eating the fruit can work.
Pineapples may accelerate suture dissolution
Pineapples may potentially be able to dissolve your dissolvable stitches faster than normal. There are two reasons as to why we believe that it can speed up the dissolution rate.
- Self-dissolving sutures will naturally get degraded by our body’s enzymes.
- Pineapples contain a proteolytic enzyme called bromelain which is often used to tenderize meat.
Dissolvable stitches get enzymatically degraded
One of the most common resorbable sutures is catgut (gut) which is actually made of the intestinal linings of ruminant animals (cows, sheeps, goats). That makes it all natural but the point we wish to make is that you can technically view it as “food” if that makes sense.
As we all know, our body will naturally break down the food and digest it with enzymes. The sutures would be no exception and they get degraded in the same exact fashion. In a study by the American Journal of Surgery, catgut was found to be prone to rapid proteolytic digestion while in the gastrointestinal tract. Although vicryl sutures appeared to be more resistant to enzymatic degradation.
Since they’re susceptible to proteolytic breakdown, our reasoning is why not supplement our diet with some extra enzymes. Theoretically that should aid in the sutures to resorb more quickly.
That made a lot of sense to us, but what do you think?
Pineapples contain bromelain (proteolytic enzyme)
Pineapples are known to contain bromelain, which consists of a group of proteolytic enzymes. It is essentially a complex combination of multiple endopeptidases of thiol and other compounds derived from the pineapple fruit, stem, or root.
Due to its potent enzymes, pineapples have been traditionally used to tenderize meat. If you’re no stranger to the kitchen, you’ve probably used it before as a marinade to make your meal softer and more delectable. It’s more than just a kitchen secret because scientific studies have proven its meat tenderizing effect.
If you have any doubts, ask around of your friends who are cooking aficionados to see if they’ve used pineapples in such a fashion. We’re sure you’ll find at least a couple of people who can vouch for its tenderizing effect.
In summary, if you consume this tropical fruit or drink its juice, you can give your body an extra boost of proteolytic enzymes. Perhaps it can speed up the resorption of your self-dissolving stitches.
What to watch out for with this home remedy
We would caution about potentially trying this home remedy on the day of your surgery for when you got the stitches. Research has shown that bromelain does have an effect on your ability to form a blood clot.
- Low concentrations of bromelain have a procoagulation effect.
- High concentrations of bromelain have an anticoagulant effect.
That means it has a dual effect and your blood clotting could go either way depend on how much bromelain you take. Essentially it is sensitive to the concentration of how much you take.
Due to the risk of it possibly going awry, we could recommend against consuming pineapples and its juice on the day that you get the sutures. It would be safer to do it two days after when the clot has already formed and stabilized.
Benefits to trying pineapple juice
Aside from the potential to help make the stitches dissolve faster, there are other post-surgical benefits to ingesting bromelain. Drinking pineapple juice can reduce swelling and inflammation after surgeries.
In fact, there has been a viral trend on TikTok about drinking pineapple juice for wisdom teeth removal. Allegedly the people who did it had minimal to no swelling after their procedure.
How much faster will the stitches dissolve?
Unfortunately if you try drinking pineapple juice or eating the fruit, we do not know how much faster the stitches can dissolve. In fact, it is not certain that it would expedite the process at all since it has never been proven in an actual experiment.
Once again, this home remedy is simply a theory that we formulated by extrapolating existing data. It seems like it should work but we can’t say definitively until the writing is on the wall. Thus, how long it’ll take to dissolve will be unknown.
Therefore if you were to try this, it would be at your own risk. Just make sure that you’re not allergic to pineapples because if you were, you shouldn’t do this! Also consult your doctor to make sure you’re okay to have pineapples after whatever procedure you had done.
Are there any alternatives?
In lieu of using pineapples, we would say that any other foods which have meat tenderizing properties may potentially work as well.
Here are some kitchen recipes which may help according to the foodnetwork:
- Kiwi
- Papaya
- Pineapple
- Asian pears
Feel free to give any of them a try! Just make sure you’re not allergic to any of them.
Takeaway
Despite there not being any proven scientific studies on how to make dissolvable stitches dissolve faster, you can give pineapple juice a try. Some of the dissolvable stitches are susceptible to proteolytic enzyme degradation and pineapples contain a lot of it.
It’s worth a try since it is fairly low risk. After all you’re just eating a fruit. If it doesn’t work you’re really not missing out on much at all. If it does work the stitches will come out quicker.
If you’re to try this, do it about 2-3 days after you’ve had the stitches. You don’t want to weaken them while they’re still needed, which is to help your wound heal. If you make the stitches fall out too soon you may need to return to your doctor and have them replaced! That would defeat the purpose wouldn’t it?