Post-op instructions, you're doing it wrong

Such a mundane subject – post-op instructions. What could possibly go wrong?

Recently I had a skin thing removed from my right shin. When the procedure was over a nurse gave me post-op instructions to remove the dressing after "two or three days". She even handed me a printed sheet that said "two or three days".

That left me wondering – what's best? Two days or three days? Does it matter? What happens if I remove it too late or too early?

I see dentists do the same thing to patients all the time, especially when doing extractions.

Leave the pack in for "about half an hour" or "half an hour or so".

Why not just say "bite firmly on the pack for 30 minutes".

One way makes it sound as if you are not quite sure about what they should do. The other way makes it sound like you know exactly what's going on.

This is not about being pedantic. It's about creating the perception in the patient's mind that you're precise and know exactly what you're doing.

You wouldn't say to a patient to take "one or two tablets every couple of days" when you wrote a prescription. Why do it with your post-op instructions?