why cant you apply lotions, perfumes, deodorants, or nail polish the day of a colonoscopy? Whats the reason behind that?
In: Biology
Former endoscopy RN (colonoscopy nurse) here. Several answers are correct but none give all the information as one response so here goes:
Nail polish: they monitor your oxygen levels during the procedure with pulse oximeters, which read through your nail beds. Nail polish will make these read inaccurately or not at all.
Perfumes, lotions: 2 things here. They also monitor your heart during the procedure with EKG leads, and anything on your skin will make these not ready correctly and maybe not stick at all. When polyps or biopsies are taken you may bleed, and depending on the level of bleeding they may have to use electric cautery to stop the bleeding. Perfumes and lotions are flammable and could cause burns or a fire. The grounding pads used also go on your body so lotion or perfume can make them not stick as well, increasing the fire/burn risk.
Deodorant: can also be flammable, so see above. Probably not honestly an issue in the armpits but way more people than you think put deodorant on their chest, groin, butt crack, thighs, and anywhere else. Better to just say no than try to specify where it can or can’t go.
Even though no one asked, a few more things:
Food: it can stay in your stomach a lot longer than you think, and when you are sedated you are at an increased risk of vomiting and aspirating on the vomit.
Water/drinks: same as above, but only need to wait 2 hours before the procedure.
Gum/chewing but not swallowing stuff: still stimulates saliva production, which you can then aspirate on.
Medications: can interact with anesthesia. Doctor will tell you which ones to take or not take. listen to them.
And yes, you technically can have a colonoscopy without anesthesia. I’ve seen it done. Up to you and the doctor’s preference really.
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