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Pre and Post-Operative Information

What to do before your procedure, and how to look after the area afterwards. If anything here is unclear, please ask before your appointment.

Before Your Procedure

Pre-Operative Information

  • It is really important to eat and drink ahead of the procedure. Coming in on an empty stomach makes you far more likely to feel lightheaded.
  • If stitches are used, they will come out in approximately 10 days. Please avoid any strenuous activity until they have been removed.
  • Please tell Dr Rao about any allergies, especially to latex, local anaesthetic, or adrenaline.
  • Please tell Dr Rao if you take aspirin or any blood thinners, and most certainly if you have any metallic implants in your body.

You are usually in and out within about half an hour. A post-operative leaflet will be given to you on the day, as a reminder of how to look after your skin once the procedure is done.

Aftercare

Post-Operative — With Stitches

  • The local anaesthetic will wear off in about 2 to 4 hours. Please take paracetamol if you experience pain.
  • Keep the dressing in place for 2 days.
  • After 2 days the dressing can be removed, but keep the wound clean and dry. If it is on a site of friction, the dressing can be left on as needed.
  • You can shower, but avoid soaking the wound in a bath. Please avoid swimming until the stitches are removed.
  • If the wound becomes infected — signs include redness, pain, or discharge — contact Dr Rao’s secretary or the clinic where you were seen, so she can contact you or arrange a course of antibiotics as appropriate.
  • If there is any bleeding from the wound site, apply firm pressure with a clean towel for approximately 20 minutes.
  • You will have been told how many stitches were used and when to have them removed. Stitch removal is usually advised between 10 and 14 days, at the hospital where the procedure was carried out.
  • If more convenient, it is fine to have the stitches removed at a local walk-in centre or by the nurse at your GP surgery, within the timeline advised.
Aftercare

Post-Operative — Without Stitches

  • The local anaesthetic will wear off in about 2 to 4 hours. Please take paracetamol if you experience pain.
  • Keep the dressing in place for 2 days.
  • After 2 days the dressing can be removed, but keep the wound clean and dry. If it is on a site of friction, the dressing can be left on as needed.
  • You can shower, but avoid soaking the wound in a bath. Please avoid swimming until the wound has healed completely, usually about 10 days.
  • If the wound becomes infected — signs include redness, pain, or discharge — contact Dr Rao’s secretary or the clinic where you were seen, so she can contact you or arrange a course of antibiotics as appropriate.
  • If there is any bleeding from the wound site, apply firm pressure with a clean towel for approximately 20 minutes.

If something does not look right

Contact Dr Rao’s private secretary, Ms Jelena Stojanovic, on 020 3371 9802 or at secretary@drarchanarao.com, or call the clinic where you were seen. If you are an NHS patient and your query relates to an NHS appointment, contact the dermatology admin team at Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust on 0208 934 6473.

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