Hey everyone. I never had surgery before and im not sure of these kinds of policies. Do I need to have a my piercings removed for surgery? Also, I normally have my nails done. Should I remove the tips and polish or is it ok.

I was told to take everything off my body but I wanted other opinions.

Im getting banded on Oct 3rd in Mexico by dr. verboonen and dr. Ponce de leon.

Thanx

all piercings removed... and I was told if I had clear polish it was ok.....

I was told absolutely no jewelry allowed back when I had my surgery. And, back then I used to get my nails done, and I had to remove them for the surgery.

We were told to absolutely take out body piercings. In the event of an emergency, and they have to use the paddles to restart your heart (I think this the case, if not it was something they might have to use in an emergency), those metal piercings would cause very bad burns. :biggrin:

We were allowed acrylic nails as long as the polish was translucent. I have pink and whites, and they were fine.

You don't want metal on you if for some reason you need an MRI either...and no x-rays with metal

and yes remove acrylic nails. Nurses need to check your capillary refill (fingers and toes) so no polish is best..

You might want to ask the surgery center, they told me if I had acrylic nails that I only had to remove one index finger nail. All jewelry for sure will have to be off for reasons others already said.

and yes remove acrylic nails. Nurses need to check your capillary refill (fingers and toes) so no polish is best..

Our instructions specifically said acrylics and nail poish were fine, as long as you didn't have on dark nail polish. I'm sure different hosipitals have their on individual procedures. They must get this question asked a lot, because it was on two different forms. I even played it safe, and had light nail polish put on my toe nails at my last pedicure. :biggrin:

It's pretty clear, already, that different hospitals have different requirements, so you should check with yours to be sure. I was told that if they polish was too dark, they have remover, and take it off of one nail.

Edited September 19, 200817 yr by kiz

I have the solar gel nails....I didnt have to remove them for surgery....I guess all places are different.. I would find out what the hospital you are going to says to do...

I had my pre-op testing today, and they said no to all of them. No jewelry, nails, or nail polish. Of course, as stated before, every place is different. Just call them and ask.

I just thought of something else...HAIR SPRAY! if you use it, it's safer if you don't on surgery day. It's flammable and not that safe with anesthesia and oxygen! Nothing to panic over, just better to pass on it.

Great question! I have been hoping to get tips back on for DH's HS reunion in about 2 weeks but if I'm going to have to take them off for surgery, I might as well not put them on. Maybe they could check my toes... LOL. I could easily not have polish on them... heck they only have half the polish on them half the time anyways...

You can't wear jewelery when you are being operated on as it is common for the surgeon to use an instrument that cauterizes by using electric current. You can end up with burns or be electrocuted. You can not wear fake nails or polish as it obstructs the pulse oximeter that measures your oxygen saturation and pulse. The nurse anesthetist also can notice subtle changes in your circulation by looking at your fingernails. Why compromise your safety?

The reason you need to have clear nailpolish is so they can check if your fingers are going blue from oxygen deprivation. Just a precaution, I've seen some things about people that leave there piercings in but I personally have always been told to take them out

No jewlery and no nail polish. I had my surgery on the 8th. Good Luck to you!!!!

They will ask you when you go in for surgury do you have any jewlery on but most women wear nails so if they didnt wont you to have nails it seem like they would tell you that when you pre-admit. My finger nails were not done but my toes had french manicare on them and they didnt say a word.

Some nurses are more thorough than others. Some don't think it's as important. One quick way to check circulation and oxygenation is to check capillary refill IN SEVERAL SPOTS .... by quickly mashing on a fingernail and seeing how long it takes the blood to flow back or "refill". Should be under 2-3 seconds. Some rely only on a pulse oximeter (usually placed on an index finger...and acrylic nails stop it from working) but we're taught to check on our own too; equipment can fail. So it is prudent to go in "clean" without acrylics and without polish...we larger ladies are more prone to circulation issues because of our adipose tissue, many with blood pressure problems etc. If you want the nurses to be able to assess you quickly and accurately, leave the nails and polish for another day. They may forget to ask you but in recovery those nurses are going to want to make sure everythings circulating like it should and that you are getting oxygen to your fingers and toes just fine.