Standard Vicryl sutures take 56 to 70 days to fully dissolve in the body. But they stop doing their main job, holding tissue together, well before that. Vicryl loses about 75% of its strength by day 14 and roughly half by day 21. The material you can still feel under or poking through the skin during those later weeks is essentially just waiting to be cleared away.
Standard Vicryl vs. Vicryl Rapide
There are two common versions of Vicryl, and their timelines are quite different. Standard (coated) Vicryl retains 75% of its holding strength at two weeks and 50% at three weeks, with complete absorption happening between 56 and 70 days. Vicryl Rapide, an irradiated version designed for surface skin closures, works on a much faster schedule. It loses all of its strength within 14 days and is fully absorbed by day 42.
Your surgeon chooses between the two based on how long the wound needs support. Deeper tissue layers that take longer to heal get standard Vicryl. Skin closures, especially in areas like the face or perineum where you want the suture gone quickly, often get Vicryl Rapide.
How the Body Breaks Them Down
Vicryl is made from a synthetic copolymer of glycolic acid and lactic acid. Your body dissolves it through a process called hydrolysis: water in the surrounding tissue gradually penetrates the suture and breaks apart the chemical bonds holding the polymer chains together. Those smaller fragments enter the bloodstream and are either processed by the liver or filtered out by the kidneys.
One practical advantage of this water-driven process is that it’s predictable. Unlike older natural suture materials that relied on immune-driven enzymatic breakdown, Vicryl’s absorption rate isn’t significantly altered by inflammation or infection at the wound site. That means the timeline holds fairly steady regardless of how messy the healing environment gets.
How Vicryl Compares to Other Dissolvable Sutures
If your surgeon used a different type of absorbable suture, your timeline could be shorter or much longer:
- Vicryl Rapide: Full absorption in 42 days, no strength after 14 days.
- Standard Vicryl: Full absorption in 56 to 70 days, 50% strength at 21 days.
- Monocryl: Full absorption in about 120 days, though it retains only 25% of its strength at 14 days.
Monocryl takes nearly twice as long as standard Vicryl to fully disappear, but it also loses functional strength faster. The choice between these materials depends on the tissue being repaired, how much tension the closure needs to withstand, and how quickly the surgeon wants the material gone.
What You Might Notice While They Dissolve
During those weeks of absorption, a few things are normal. You may feel small, firm bumps under the skin where knots were tied. Occasionally, a suture end works its way to the surface and pokes through the skin, a phenomenon called “spitting.” This looks like a small red bump or pimple, sometimes with a visible thread emerging from it. It can be itchy or mildly tender.
Spitting happens because your immune system recognizes the suture as a foreign body and pushes it outward rather than waiting for hydrolysis to finish the job. Macrophages, a type of immune cell, surround the material and can form small nodules called granulomas. This is more common toward the tail end of the absorption window and is typically harmless, though it can be annoying. If a suture end is sticking out and bothering you, your doctor can trim it in a quick office visit. Don’t pull on it yourself.
Caring for Your Wound During Absorption
For the first 24 to 48 hours, keep the area dry. After that initial window, you can shower as long as your surgeon has cleared you to do so. Pat the wound dry gently rather than rubbing it. Avoid soaking the area in a bathtub, pool, or hot tub until you get the go-ahead.
Once past that first couple of days, wash around the wound with clean water twice a day. Skip hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol, both of which can slow healing. A thin layer of petroleum jelly covered with a non-stick bandage helps keep the area moist and protected. Replace the bandage as needed.
The most important rule: don’t touch, pick at, or try to remove the stitches yourself. Even if a loop feels loose or a knot seems ready to come off, pulling on it can disrupt tissue that’s still healing underneath. Let the sutures fall away or dissolve on their own schedule.