Why are doctors so ambiguous about aftercare or straight up walk out?
I’ve seen several cosmetic dermatologists and had two cosmetic skin “surgeries” that required aftercare. Both times, the doctors were rushed and didn’t answer questions leaving their assistant to answer them; and all the assistant said was to refer to a piece of paper they will hand you for aftercare. The paper itself is super ambiguous as it applies to a ton of different procedures.
This most recent one is a deep wound in my face that required stitches. I walked in, they only told me what would be done and asked if I wanted it done; before I said yes I started asking questions regarding scarring and aftercare, at which point the actual cosmetic dermatologist walked out and told her assistant to just get the stuff ready! When I continued asking basic questions, the assistant shut me down and said “first, we’ll do the procedure, and afterward I can answer your questions” I really only asked about 3 questions at this point. I asked the following questions- “will the stitches also leave their own scars?” “Can I consume caffeine or will that affect even a small wound on my face?” And lastly “Should I sleep sitting up?” The doctor walked back in, covered the areas of my face that weren’t involved and got to work. When she finished she literally stood up said have a nice day and WALKED OUT AGAIN! The assistant applied the gauze and pressure, and as she was doing that, I asked her “when I change the dressing should I do the same and apply pressure?” And she looked annoyed and said “I’ll hand you a piece of paper with the aftercare.” The aftercare sheet has been very straightforward but not detailed enough; for example everything online says to not apply soap and water to the stitches themselves and to wash around the wound, but the paper says to thoroughly wash the wound! The paper also states that if I have bleeding that doesn’t stop or signs of infection that I shouldn’t go to urgent care but rather call their office first, which seems odd since I’m 2 hours away from them. The paper also focuses more on what to do if your wound is on your legs rather than your face. It also says to use a simple bandaid on the wound, but they applied a bunch of gauze with pressure :/
So I suppose my actual question is, what should aftercare for a wound with several stitches on my face beside my mouth look like? Thank you!