Surgery and periods: any advice?

Hello everyone, I have been searching for some clarity on this matter, yet I find that opinions seem to be quite divided. To provide some context, I am scheduled for surgery in two weeks, which happens to coincide with when I will be starting my menstrual cycle. My primary concern is whether I ought to contact my surgeon to postpone the procedure, or if this timing presents no significant issue at all. For those wondering about the nature of the surgery, I was born with a cleft lip, so this is an elective cosmetic procedure intended to refine the area and touch up the existing scar above my lip. Given these circumstances, should I proactively reach out to my doctor to reschedule, or is it perfectly safe to proceed as planned without any complications? 🙂

rapiddrifter said:Hi everyone. I’ve been looking for an answer, but opinions seem split. I have a surgery scheduled in two weeks, which happens to be right when my period is due. Should I postpone the procedure, or is it really not an issue? It’s an elective cosmetic surgery for a cleft lip repair—just working on the lip and smoothing out the scar above it. So, should I call my doctor to reschedule, or is it fine to proceed as planned? 🙂

Ask your doctor. Personally, I don't think it matters.

I actually had to undergo a colonoscopy while I was still on my period. I was told it wouldn't be an issue, and the procedure went ahead on the fifth day.

I find myself in a bit of a dilemma because I’m receiving conflicting advice; some people tell me it doesn't matter at all, while others insist it's a significant "issue." However, I can't help but feel that this shouldn't be such a daunting concern, especially considering we are talking about a lip procedure—essentially a minor lip correction—and the surgery itself isn't even expected to take very long. Ultimately, I suppose my only real recourse is to pick up the phone and call the doctor 🤷

I don’t know, I went in to get a mole removed from my face, and when the doctor was getting ready to stitch me up, he asked if I was on my period. I told him yeah, and he said I really should have mentioned that beforehand because the wound was bleeding way more than it should have been.

I think you definitely need to let the doctors know if you're on your period before any procedure, just so they're in the loop. They'd probably postpone major surgeries for that reason, though I doubt they'd push back something minor like this over it.

That is precisely what I intend to do, and I am quite confident they won't push back my surgery date since the situation isn't considered critical 🙂 I truly appreciate all of your responses, ladies, and thank you for the input 😁

It doesn't hurt to mention, but you should point out

Honestly, women frequently deal with heavy breakthrough bleeding just from the sheer stress and anxiety leading up to surgery.