Ok ladies, this ones for you! When the nurse called from the hospital to go over everything about the surgery day and anesthesia they informed me not to shave my legs 4 days prior to surgery because of the wipe they will give me to wipe on my body. They said it “can” make some women itch. Was anyone else told this and did you listen? Did you shave and then had an itching problem? Personally, I can’t stand fuzzy legs so I’m going to take my chances, but I am just curious about this.

No shaving anywhere two days before since you could cut yourself and have an 'open wound' for them to worry about

I am SO glad this post was made!!!

On 5/2/2019 at 1:03 PM, redmister said:

I shaved under my armpits (not even thinking) the night before or morning of and I really wished I hadn't. It burned like fire when I used the wipes. They had me use the wipes from my shoulders down to my toes before I put my gown on.

Ugh that must’ve been awful

On 5/7/2019 at 8:58 PM, kimberlymi said:

Are you on the blood thinner shot? I was on blood thinners and they took me off of them 6 days before surgery and I had to give myself blood thinner shots 5 days in a row. The no shaving rule was one of the things they told me. They gave me the shots the morning of surgery and daily until I was discharged.

They gave me the shots in the hospital and then I had to take a blood thinner pill for 10 days after surgery that they gave me

On 5/8/2019 at 5:48 AM, KateBruin said:

Late response but I got my legs waxed a day or two before surgery. I was in utter hell. I seem to have an allergy to the surgical scrub and/or chemicals used to wash hospital sheets. I will be waxing sooner before my next surgery (shoulder) and warn them about my allergy. It was seriously hell on earth and Benadryl didn’t do squat

I think I lucked out and just didn’t have a bad reaction. I could t imagine having to deal with that on top of recovering from the surgery!

I was told not to shave, and if they needed to, they would do it during the surgery. Since this was general information and people dont follow instructions to the T, they kept it general and simple. I think the idea behind is it that so people dont cut the hairs short and they have a hard time getting rid of the stubble during surgery.

The reason for not shaving is infection control. Shaving causes micro-abrasions in the skin. The skin is loaded with bacteria and even with the disinfectant soaps, there is the possibility of starting an infection that could spread to the surgical site. Even if the bacterial growth is NOT in the exact area of the surgery, people tend to touch their surgical sites after touching other areas. Believe me, nurses don't care what your legs look like and as an RN who worked in pre-op for 3 years, we were very happy to see women who followed the no-shaving instruction. Very hairy surgical sites don't even get shaved in the hospital - clippers are used instead.

On 05/09/2019 at 16:45, KimB7811 said:

I think I lucked out and just didn’t have a bad reaction. I could t imagine having to deal with that on top of recovering from the surgery!

It was horrible. I have shoulder surgery July 18 and I have to wax my underarm before since I can’t raise it for weeks. I’m already dreading the reaction I’ll get. Not waxing or shaving anything else. The reaction was the worst part of my surgery apart from the gross drain.

15 hours ago, KateBruin said:

On 5/9/2019 at 7:45 PM, KimB7811 said:

I think I lucked out and just didn’t have a bad reaction. I could t imagine having to deal with that on top of recovering from the surgery!

It was horrible. I have shoulder surgery July 18 and I have to wax my underarm before since I can’t raise it for weeks. I’m already dreading the reaction I’ll get. Not waxing or shaving anything else. The reaction was the worst part of my surgery apart from the gross drain.

Maybe just avoid the armpit while wiping. It would be horrible to have the allergic reaction again on top of the surgery. Best of luck to you with your upcoming shoulder surgery.

On 05/10/2019 at 16:50, KimB7811 said:

It was horrible. I have shoulder surgery July 18 and I have to wax my underarm before since I can’t raise it for weeks. I’m already dreading the reaction I’ll get. Not waxing or shaving anything else. The reaction was the worst part of my surgery apart from the gross drain.

Maybe just avoid the armpit while wiping. It would be horrible to have the allergic reaction again on top of the surgery. Best of luck to you with your upcoming shoulder surgery.

My response to surgery, double washing with Gold liquid Dial, second application, leave on for 5 minutes before rinsing. Worked for my Bariatric Surgery,last September and for my own shoulder surgery. April 4th.