Surgery preparation
Plastic Surgery Patient Guide
What to organise before elective plastic surgery—from health and travel planning to smoking, medicines, supplements, food, fasting and surgery day.
Confirm your plan
Follow the stop list
Prepare calmly
Use your instructions
First: this is a planning guide, not a prescription
There is no universal schedule for every person. Do not stop prescription medicines, anticoagulants, aspirin, hormones, contraception, diabetes medicines or weight-loss injections on the basis of an online checklist. Ask the surgical and anaesthesia teams for a dated, written plan.
Good preparation is not about doing more. It is about making the right decisions early.
Six to three months before
Start with the decisions that shape everything else.
Decide whether surgery is the right treatment and whether the timing is realistic. Share an accurate medical history, compare the proposed procedure and aftercare, and make sure the hospital and surgeon meet the standards required for your treatment.
Health review
Arrange appropriate care for ongoing conditions such as blood pressure, diabetes, anaemia, breathing problems or sleep apnoea.
Smoking and nicotine
Nicotine can reduce blood flow, delay wound healing and increase complications. Tell the surgeon about smoking, vaping and every nicotine product, then follow the required nicotine-free period.
Provider checks
Verify the surgeon, procedure, hospital or licensed facility, anaesthesia team, emergency capability and aftercare pathway before paying.
Tell the full story
Include previous operations, allergies, clotting history, pregnancies, infections, mental-health treatment, alcohol, nicotine and recreational drug use.
Send one complete list: prescriptions, injections, painkillers, vitamins, fitness products, herbal remedies, teas, detox products, contraception, HRT and fertility medicines. Photograph the front and ingredient label of every product.
One month before
Turn decisions into a written plan.
Clinical plan
- Complete the examinations and tests requested for your health and operation.
- Confirm the procedure, surgeon, anaesthetic, hospital, admission and recommended stay.
- Ask which medicines to continue, pause or change—and on which date.
Practical plan
- Arrange an adult companion and early recovery support.
- Plan work, childcare, pet care, transport and lifting help.
- Check insurance exclusions, complication support and delayed-flight arrangements.
Hormones and birth-control pills
A partner surgeon’s protocol asks selected patients to stop birth-control pills and hormones one month before surgery. This is not a safe self-service rule. Obtain written instructions from the surgical team and the clinician who prescribed the treatment, and discuss alternative contraception where relevant.
Ten days–two weeks before
Now focus on the stop list.
Some complementary products may affect bleeding, blood pressure, heart rate, sedation or anaesthesia. Follow the stricter written instruction issued for your case.
Surgeon-provided protocol
Unless the treating team states otherwise, avoid from 10 days before surgery:
This standard partner-surgeon checklist must still be reconciled with your medicines and anaesthetic plan.
- Aspirin
- Green tea or green-tea extracts
- Garlic supplements or concentrated products
- Sour-cherry juice, concentrate or supplements
- Pomegranate juice, concentrate or supplements
- Ginkgo biloba, including Tebokan Forte
- Coenzyme Q10
- Herbal remedies and mixed herbal products
- Cinnamon supplements or concentrated products
- Ginger supplements, shots or concentrated products
Never stop blood-thinning medication by yourself. The prescriber and surgical team must decide whether, when and how it is changed.
Food, tea and supplements: what does the list mean?
Tea versus extractA drink, capsule, powder or concentrated extract may not have the same effect. Because this protocol lists green tea, follow the 10-day instruction and show the product label.
Cooking versus supplementsNormal seasoning can differ from garlic, ginger or cinnamon capsules, shots and concentrated daily use. Ask what the restriction covers.
Avoid “detox” productsMixed products may contain several herbs, stimulants or laxatives. Do not start them before surgery; send the label to the team.
Final week to surgery morning
Make the last days calm and predictable.
Remove surprises
- Reconfirm admission and contacts.
- Pack loose clothes, reports and medicines.
- Prepare your recovery space and support.
- Report illness, infection or a new prescription.
Keep it familiar
- Eat normally until your personal fasting time.
- Avoid alcohol, detoxing and a heavy final meal.
- Do not restart anything already stopped.
- Use only the hospital’s food and drink cutoffs.
Follow the final plan
- Take only medicines approved for that morning.
- Do not smoke, vape or drink alcohol.
- Bring your ID, reports and medicine list.
- Confirm the procedure and surgical site.
Tell the team before anaesthesia if you ate or drank after the cutoff, took a restricted product, developed an illness, used nicotine, started a new medicine or could be pregnant. Hiding it can be more dangerous than postponing surgery.
Sources and editorial context
This article combines recognised patient guidance with a partner surgeon’s commonly used pre-operative checklist. Exact instructions can differ, so the treating surgeon and anaesthesia team remain responsible for the final plan.
NHS — Preparing for an operationRoyal College of Anaesthetists — Preparing for surgeryAmerican Society of Anesthesiologists — Herbal and dietary supplementsGuy’s and St Thomas’ NHS — Herbal remedies and dietary supplementsNHS Specialist Pharmacy Service — Complementary products and surgeryAmerican Society of Plastic Surgeons — Preparing for plastic surgery- Last editorial update
- 29 September 2026
- Medical status
- General patient information; individual clinical approval required
Ask for your dated preparation plan
Share your medicines, supplements and medical history so the treating team can issue the correct stop dates and fasting instructions for your procedure.