You know I might be wrong, but I have had lots of surgery....You do not want the steri-strips on there forever...It does not hurt to get them wet ...You want them to come off on their own...so you want them to get wet so they loosen up a bit and come off...You are not going to hurt anything by moving your head a little bit...The hardware or plate holds things...Of course...I had rods and screws in the back...so I know that was holding my head on...Talk about having your head screwed on right!

And Dave....I was worried about my hair...I am a woman....They shaved half way up the back of my head...Made for a real nice hair cut until it grew in...I cried a lot after this surgery...especially when I looked at the back of my head...I have a really ugly scar down the back of my neck...into the back...My head itched so badly from the gunk from surgery I could not wait to wash it...so we all have different priorities...!