A minor/silly question in the grand scheme of things.....Will I need to remove my gel nails before surgery? I understand that the anesthesiologist needs to see the nail bed to monitor oxygen levels. Was really hoping that I could leave my gel nails on, and just wear a clear (or no) polish.

Any thoughts?

Ask your facility. All anesthesiologists are different. I had to take my acrylic nails off for my VSG, but I was allowed to keep them on for my gallbladder removal.

I had to remove my gel nails before surgery.

Oh man...this sucks. I'll have to take mine off then.

I don't have gel nails but I wear gel polish. I took it off the night before surgery. I got out of the hospital the next day, then the following day the first thing I did was go get my nails done. And they wouldn't even let me wear clear polish

I had a mani and pedi done for surgery because my surgeon said it was fine. The anesthesiologist said they have more modern way of watching oxygen levels nowadays. So I went in looking pretty! LOL But check with your surgeon first, and if you see the anesthesiologist during your pre-op testing, as him/her as well.

My red sparkly gel nails were the prettiest thing in that operating room! I didn't have to remove mine.

Generally they remove your nail polish so that the pulse oximeter can pull your readings. That is the little thing they clip on your finger that shows your pulse rate and oxygen saturation levels. It works by reading the hemoglobin saturation of your skin beneath your nailbed, so if you have on nail polish not only can it block the reading if the polish is colored, but even if it is clear, sometimes the reading comes back wrong. They monitor your oxygenation levels during surgery with what someone else referred to as "far more modern ways" of monitoring oxygen, which is true. It's part of the machine that breathes for you and it has a constant reading on the screen so that they can see your levels. They may also have a pulse oximeter on your finger, it depends. Ultimately, toe nail polish is fine, but the rationale behind the no fingernail polish is because it screws up the O2 saturation reading. If you have regular nailpolish, they just remove the polish on one nail, and if you have gel, they will scrape it off of one nail. If they don't, then that's cool too, but I would personally find having one nail messed up far more annoying than just not having any polish on at all for a few days.

Well, so much for consistent answers - lol!

I guess I'll just have to ask my anesthesiologist at my pre-surgery appt at the hospital a week before surgery, since it seems to vary.

I appreciate everyone taking the time out to respond. Good luck to you all!

I didn't have to remove mine, but they did ask for no polish on them.

I removed mine, because I assumed I had to. When I told the nurses I did that, they said I didn't have to. I was pretty bummed, because for the next two weeks I couldn't pick anything up!!!

I asked and my surgeon said no problem. Just ask they will tell you

My surgeon said that the oxygen monitor would work just fine, but they preferred clear or no polish so they can see the color of your nail beds. My anesthesiologist didn't care at all, so....

As a darker person, they judge if you are pale or not by your nail beds. I have been told this by doctors my whole life.

The funny thing is my nails are so long, the oxygen thing never fit right on it anyway. They didn't make me clip my nails so it must not have been that critical.

Why take the chance..,remove them ...after surgery get them back on.

Why take the chance..,remove them ...after surgery get them back on.

Why not just ask the surgeon? Then you know.