Before heading to your surgery appointment there’s a few things you need to do to ensure you’re fully prepared for surgery.
A clinical requirement for patients is to strip right back and go au-natural for your surgery. Please ensure you have removed all of the below items before attending your surgery appointment.
Make-up
Patients having any procedures at Pall Mall need to remove all makeup before their operation to ensure they are clean and sterile. While you are under anaesthesia or sedation, you do not have a blink reflex so small particles of makeup could injure or cause damage to your eyes. During anaesthesia, the anaesthetist will place an endotracheal tube into your windpipe to assist with breathing, therefore all makeup needs to be removed to avoid any infection or contamination.
Fake tan
During your operation, the surgeon will clean the area of skin where the incisions will be made with iodine to help kill any bacteria on the surface of the skin. This will lift any fake tan on the body and can cause issues for the surgeon. The surgeon would then have to remove all the fake tan from the area to ensure it is sterile, as not to cause unnecessary risk of infection.
Nail varnish, acrylic or gel nails
In theatre the anaesthetist will need to monitor the oxygen levels in your blood. This is done by placing a plastic probe onto your finger, which may not work properly over acrylic, gel nails or nail varnish.
Eyelash strips and extensions
Any fake eyelashes need to be removed before surgery, this includes strip lashes, individual lashes and lash extensions, in case your surgical team needs to use tape over your eyelids during your procedure. Upon removing the tape, it could pull on lash extensions and damage your natural eyelashes.
Jewellery, piercings and metal bonded extensions
We ask patients to remove jewellery, piercings and metal bonded extensions to prevent the risk of burns to the skin during surgery. A major concern during surgery is the effect metal has on electrocautery, the technique used to electrically seal bleeding vessels.
On the day of your surgery please ensure that long hair is tied up in a non-mental hair bobble to prevent it from getting in the way during surgery.
Please do not wear any moisturiser or body lotion on your surgery day as this creates an oily base on the surface of the skin. Excess oil on the skin makes it harder to make the area sterile and get the ECG dots to stick to your body. The ECG dots link up to a machine that monitors your heart rate during surgery.
If you have any further questions ahead of your surgery don’t hesitate to contact your Patient Coordinator who will be able to answer any questions.
