Preparing for Surgery – General Dermatology
When scheduling surgery, please plan accordingly as you will be subject to activity restriction following your surgery. It is recommended you do not travel or plan to participate in heavy athletic activities for 7 – 10 days. If your surgery requires sutures, you may be asked to schedule a suture removal appointment with our treatment center staff 7 – 14 days after your surgery. At the time of the surgery, you’ll receive wound care instructions and the doctor and staff will address post operative care at that time.
Surgery is performed under local anesthesia. We suggest that you eat a normal breakfast or lunch, unless otherwise specified. Please bathe or shower and wash your hair if appropriate to minimize your risk of a surgical site infection.
It is important that you do NOT take any anti-anxiety medicines, narcotic pain medicines or similar types of medicines on the day of the surgery before you come in. For most surgical excisions, you will be here for approximately 1 hour. For larger surgeries, you may want to have someone accompany you to give you a ride home.
Many patients are on blood thinning medications that are prescribed by their physicians. We do not recommend stopping them without explicit permission from the prescribing physician. For those on Coumadin/Warfarin, please make sure that your INR is in the therapeutic range. Please stop taking any aspirin or anti-inflammatory medicines (like ibuprofen, Advil, Motrin, Naprosyn, Anacin and Bufferin), alcohol, vitamin E, ginko biloba and garlic pills at least one week before your surgery. They can increase your risk of bleeding during surgery. If your physician recommends aspirin, please do not discontinue it without permission.
We are happy to address any other questions you may have at the time of the surgery or if you’d like to call for more information, we can be reached at 503-223-3104. Thank you.
The Oregon Clinic Portland Dermatology clinic is located in the Machine Works Building, look for the building with the big red stripe! Parking is available on the 5th floor in the parking garage. Enter building’s parking garage on 15th and Northrup (between Northrup and Marshall).
