Maybe a silly question....

[hollybower 122]

Did anyone's Dr or hospital tell them they had to take their nails off before surgery? The gel nails or acrylic?

[Paula'sVSGLife 49]

I am wondering this as well. I saw a review where a girl was really annoyed she hadn't been told to have clear bare nails so had to take her acrylics off right before surgery. But then I've heard (and seen others on youtube) with their nails and it was just fine. I think I need to just directly ask my Patient Care Consultant as I'd hate to assume I can keep them and then have to rip them off!

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I've heard this before, but not that you had to take off all the nails -- just leave one or two "naked" so they can do oxygen / blood pressure tests with those thingamajigs they clip on your fingers.

[hollybower 122]

There's other ways to take the O2, they can clip it to a toe and even the sticky ones that fold around the finger can be put on an earlobe! I do not want to have to take off my nails BUT I will if I have to.

[southernbelle256 101]

They are supposed to be able to see your nails to monitor for changes in color. O2 sat machines are sometimes slow or inaccurate and color of nail bed is a good indicator.

[Kindle 8,667]

I had to take mine off for my VSG but I did not for my gallbladder surgery. It's probably anesthesiologist preference. I specifically asked both times so I didn't have any surprises.

[MsB7 64]

I was wondering the same thing.

[Paula'sVSGLife 49]

So I asked and apparently yes... no nail polish or nails for surgery. But I wear my nails clear and you can easily see the nail beds... so I'm still wondering....

[glitter eyes 1,398]

They told me no nail polish. I just took a little manicure kit with me to the hospital and as soon as I was awake from anesthesia I painted my nails a cheerful pink, then took a long walk while they dried.

[Kindle 8,667]

So I asked and apparently yes... no nail polish or nails for surgery. But I wear my nails clear and you can easily see the nail beds... so I'm still wondering....

Even the clear part of acrylic nails is tinted so it would mask the true color of your nail beds and possibly interfere with the pulse oximetry. I just planned my nail appointments around my surgery so I was three weeks out of a backfill and took them off right before heading to Mexico. Got a new set put on 2 days after returning home.

[jubug 9]

Yep. I'm having the sleeve on 2/15 and I have to have them remove at least one nail on each hand...crazy! Oh well, it's worth it!

[Susan66 128]

My Dr did not require me to remove my acrylic from my nails. I also asked if my polish needed to be removed from toes, thinking if he couldn't see my finger nail beds, he would want to see my toes. The answer was also no.

[maggie409 765]

I had the sleeve and did not take mine off. I was never asked to.

[jess9395 5,448]

I asked because I had seen posts (not acrylics but nail polish). My doc said no problem. Just ask they'll tell you their particular requirements. All docs are different.

[Sharon1964 2,530]

My Dr did not require me to remove my acrylic from my nails. I also asked if my polish needed to be removed from toes, thinking if he couldn't see my finger nail beds, he would want to see my toes. The answer was also no.

Same here. The pulse ox was more like a bandaid that wrapped around my finger, not a clip-on pulse ox. Although, we do have a pulse ox at work that is clip on, and we haven't had any problem with patients wearing polish or acrylics. Maybe the technology has improved sufficiently, I dunno.