Are you going under the knife soon? Whether you have a major or minor "surgical procedure" scheduled with your dentist or doctor, it's important that you talk to him/her long before you enter the surgical suite about the drugs you take on a regular or intermittent basis.

Most of us think about the pills and potions we take with thought only to the relief they will give us. However, most drugs that give us the reaction we want also have the potential to give us a reaction we don't want-whether we know about it or not. That's because most drugs are "systemic." That means they are not isolated to the part of the body where you are attempting to find relief. For example, many of the medicines you take to relieve headache or other aches and pains thin your blood and change your blood clotting time. This isn't crucial until you are in a situation where you want bleeding to stop as soon as possible. Other drugs can gunk up at the receptors in your central nervous system where other pain relievers you may need post surgery need to be hooking instead.

Additionally, many of us think that over the counter products that we can buy without a prescription or the herbal products that, thanks to some sloppy legislation are sold as supplements, are relatively harmless. Nothing could be farther than the truth. For example, gingko and St. John's Wort are two popular herbals that act as blood thinners. In short anything that alters your system-for good or not so good-is a drug.

Scheduled surgeries give us an opportunity to talk with our health professionals about what we need to stop taking before we go under the knife. That's why you should be sure to ask your physician when you should discontinue a medication before surgery and how long to wait afterwards before resuming them.

Whether it's a knee replacement or a wisdom tooth extraction, if you brief your doctor or dentist on the medications, herbs, over the counter preparations and vitamins you use, you'll make the cut just fine!!

The following is a (partial) list of products that have aspirin or ibuprofen (blood thinners) in them. They are usually discontinued 14 days before surgery. If you have a question about a product you take, ask your pharmacist whether it has a potential to be a problem during surgery. Remember that accidents happen and surgeries can be scheduled on an emergency basis so don't use drugs of any kind unless they are absolutely necessary.

• Advil
• Alka-Seltzer
• Alleve
• Anacin
• APC
• ASA compound
• Ascriptin
• Aspergum
• Bufferin
• CAMA
• Capron capsules
• Contact
• Cope
• Coricidin
• Counterpain
• Daprisal
• Darvon compound
• Dolene compound
• Dristan
• Ecotrin
• Edrisal
• Equagesic
• Excedrin
• Femcaps
• Fiorinal
• Ibuprofen
• Liquiprin
• Measurin
• Midol
• Motrin
• Norgesic
• Novahistine with APC
• Nuprin PAC
• Percodan
• Phenaphen
• Phensol
• Relafen
• Robaxisal
• Sal-Fayne
• Stanback
• Super Anahist
• Synalogos
• Talwin compound
• Trigesic
• Triphen
• Trilisate
• Triaminic
• Vanquish
• Zactirin

This list does not include every medication that contains aspirin or ibuprofen. Before taking any medication prior to or after surgery, be sure to read the label carefully for the active ingredients aspirin, salicylates, and/or ibuprofen. If the medication contains these ingredients do not use them for 14 days before surgery of any kind.