My mother has to have back surgery tomorrow and on the list of pre-surgery do-s and don’t-s is no finger/toenail polish. It then says that acrylic nails with polish are OK.
What is it about polish on natural nails that would cause problems during surgery? Why would acrylics make a difference? (besides the fact that they’re a PITA to remove.)
It’s was my understanding that if your blood oxygen gets too low, underneath your nails will start to turn blue. It’s an easy early indicator that something is amiss.
However if they will allow acrylic nails with polish, then that theory is out the window, isn’t it?
They check the colour of your nailbeds for oxygenation. It’s a quick and easy way to see how things are going and a great early warning. I would imagine that polish is allowed on acrylic nails since they can’t see the nail bed through them anyway.
That makes a lot of sense, thanks.
That’s my thought as well. As for fake nails, I’m thinking that they’re just not asking them to tear off a fake nail and they’ll just find another way around it.
Also, when my (ex) wife and I took a pregnancy class they very specifically told the mothers-to-be not to wear make up when they came to the hospital, and if they did they’d be asked to wash it off. The nurses use the color in your face and lips as a way to see your overall condition. They can’t see the your face turn pale or your lips turn blue if you have a ton of makeup on.
Speaking of other ways around it…isn’t there a little fingerlippy thingy that can do blood oxygen now? My little boy has been to the ER a couple times with bronchitis or allergic reactions, and they measure it like that I think.
Seems easier than having to remember to glance at the ol’ talons.
with skin color under nails you have four locations to give an indication.
Yes pulse oximeters are used to determine oxygen saturation (O2 Sats) besides a glance at the nailbeds. And the pulse ox doesn’t work with nail polish… often not even clear polish. We (nurses) keep telling recreation staff and the care aides not to polish all the nails on one of our people, we need one clean and clear to do sats on our people but time and time again we end up with thick layers of polish.
I don’t have any experience with acrylic or other types of nails…
To late to edit but here’s the wiki on pulse oximetry.
One thing the article mentions, is that the reliance on this machine leads to some ridiculous conclusions. I did my training in the 1990s and not every facility had a portable O2 sat machine and I learned to observe nail beds, lip colour etc. New grads will go "OMG her sat is 68%!!111, while I will see someone healthy, pink and breathing and readjust the oximeter or look for nailpolish, or repostion the clip to go on a toe or an earlobe. Still for something like surgery where you are lying still they would like the actual numbers…
I have a friend who had that “permanent lipstick” tattooed onto her face. She said it’s writtne in huge letters at the top of all of her medical charts, and she instructed us all to make sure they know if she ever goes into ER. When she had it done they gave her a medalert bracelet to wear, but she won’t, of course.