It may take months for you to regain some feeling in the grafted area. The feeling will be different than it was before your injury. You may not have sweat glands in the skin graft area. If the grafted area is large, this may make it hard for the area to cool off when you are hot. The grafted area may not have oil glands. This can make the skin graft dry and flaky.
After your graft heals, you may need to use lotion to keep the skin moist. The skin graft may not grow hair. Sometimes skin grafts do not "take" or survive after being transferred. If the skin graft doesn't work, you may need another graft. This care sheet gives you a general idea about how long it will take for you to recover. But each person recovers at a different rate, and certain areas of the body take longer to heal than others. Follow the steps below to feel better as quickly as possible.
Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety. Be sure to make and go to all appointments, and call your doctor or nurse call line if you are having problems.
It's also a good idea to know your test results and keep a list of the medicines you take. Call anytime you think you may need emergency care. For example, call if:.
Call your doctor or nurse call line now or seek immediate medical care if:. Watch closely for changes in your health, and be sure to contact your doctor or nurse call line if:. Author: Healthwise Staff.
Roh MD - Dermatology. Care instructions adapted under license by your healthcare professional. If you have questions about a medical condition or this instruction, always ask your healthcare professional. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. At some point during the healing process, you will not need a dressing anymore.
Your doctor will tell you when you can leave your wound uncovered and how to care for it. Autograft - self-care; Skin transplant - self-care; Split-skin graft - self-care; Full thickness skin graft - self-care; Partial-dermal skin graft - self-care; FTSG - self-care; STSG - self-care; Local flaps - self-care; Regional flaps - self-care; Distant flaps - self-care; Free flap - self-care; Skin autografting - self-care; Pressure ulcer skin flap self-care; Burns skin flap self-care; Skin ulcer skin graft self-care.
Plastic surgery. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap Pettengill KM. Therapy management of complex injuries of the hand. Rehabilitation of the Hand and Upper Extremity. Wound care and dressings. Clinical Nursing Skills. Hoboken, NJ: Pearson; chap Wysong A, Higgins S. Basic principles in flap reconstruction. Flaps and Grafts in Dermatologic Surgery. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; chap 2. Editorial team. Skin flaps and grafts - self-care. A skin flap may contain skin and fat, or skin, fat, and muscle.
Often, a skin flap is still attached to its original site at one end and remains connected to a blood vessel. Sometimes a flap is moved to a new site and the blood vessel is surgically reconnected.
This is called a free flap. Skin grafts are used to help more serious, larger and deeper wounds heal, including: Wounds that are too big to heal on their own Burns Skin loss from a serious skin infection Surgery for skin cancer Venous ulcers , pressure ulcers , or diabetic ulcers that do not heal After mastectomy or amputation The area from where skin is taken is called the donor site.
Leave the dressing in place as advised by your dermatologist. Avoid strenuous exertion and stretching of the area until the stitches are removed and for some time afterwards. If there is any bleeding, press on the wound firmly with a folded towel for 20 minutes without removing the original dressing. If it is still bleeding after this time, seek medical attention. Do not rub the area as this may disturb the graft.
Keep the wounds dry until your dermatologist advises that you can wash them. If the wounds become red or very painful, consult your dermatologist: they could be infected. Sometimes the skin graft does not survive the transfer to the new site. This usually happens within the first two weeks after the procedure. If this happens, your dermatologist will inform you what further treatment is required - a repeat skin graft procedure may be required or the wound may be dressed regularly and left to slowly heal on its own.
It is quite normal for the graft to appear dark and crusted on the surface when the dressings are removed early on. This does not necessarily mean it has failed. See smartphone apps to check your skin. DermNet NZ does not provide an online consultation service. If you have any concerns with your skin or its treatment, see a dermatologist for advice.
Skin grafting — codes and concepts open. Tissue expansion is a procedure that encourages the body to "grow" extra skin by stretching surrounding tissue.
This extra skin can then be used to help reconstruct the nearby area. Examples of when tissue expansion may be used include breast reconstruction and repairing large wounds. Under general anaesthetic, a balloon-like device called an expander is inserted under the skin near the area to be repaired. This is gradually filled with salt water, causing the skin to stretch and grow. The time it takes for the tissue to be expanded can vary, depending on the size of the area to be repaired.
If a large area of skin is affected, it can take as long as 3 or 4 months for the skin to grow enough. During this time, the expander will create a bulge in the skin. Once the skin has expanded sufficiently, a second operation is needed to remove the expander and reposition the new tissue.
This technique ensures that the repaired area of skin has a similar colour and texture to the surrounding area. There's also a lower chance of the repair failing because the blood supply to the skin remains connected. Flap surgery involves the transfer of a living piece of tissue from one part of the body to another, along with the blood vessels that keep it alive.
It may be used for a variety of reasons, including breast reconstruction, open fractures, large wounds, and, in rare cases, for improving a cleft lip and palate.
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