Recovery after surgery is one of the few things which, if taken lightly, can take you back to the surgery board. As a process too, surgery and the time you take to recover through it can drain a lot of energy from you.
As far as the recovery time is concerned, it varies from person to person, and how quickly their body starts adapting to life after surgery.
There are multiple factors that can impact the timeline for your healing, including the kind of surgery you went for, your health from an overall perspective, people who are behind you for support, and how much you are motivated to recover. Your activities at the time of recovering after the surgery can either speed up the recuperation or slow it down.
In this post, we will offer a few tips on what you should do, and what you should not do to ensure the right recovery after surgery . It gives you answers to everything you can do to take care and wade through the post-surgery pain and how soon you can resume your normal activities.
Top Recovery After Surgery Tips
How to heal stitches faster after surgery? What to eat after surgery to heal faster?
These are a couple of many questions that are obvious to pop in your mind when it comes to post-surgery care.
Here are a few tips that you should do to ensure a proper recovery after your surgery:
Take Extra Care to Keep Infections Away
Preventing infection is the best way to ensure that your surgery brings the best outcome for you as soon as possible. For instance, keeping your hand away from the incision, or washing it before touching it, if need be, is a pretty simple thing that you can do.
While infection in the surgical area is rare, 30 days is the timeline within which it can occur. So, it’s recommended that you ask your surgeon about what you can do to ensure that your skin stays away from the risk of getting an infection.
Never Miss Your Follow-Up Appointments
After getting done with your surgery, follow-up visits are common, and are recommended for two to six weeks after their surgery.
While the two-week follow-up will involve the surgeon removing any stitches to ensure that the stitches have healed properly, the sixth-week visit, the incision will mostly be healed. In case that doesn’t happen, there might be the need for another follow-up.
Value and Care For Your Incision Properly
A lot of people go too far away to take too much care of their incision, keeping it clean. They try to scrub the area so that there are not any chances of infection. Some even go to the lengths of using peroxide or alcohol as well.
Don’t do this!
Unless your surgeon has specifically instructed you, a gentle soap and water wash will work just fine to ensure that your incision is taken care of. There are many surgeons who recommend taking showers instead of long baths, and even advise to not go swimming during the early days of post-surgery. You can check with your surgeon in case there is something else to look after.
Keep a Proper Diet
One of the most pressing questions is: what to eat after surgery to heal faster?
While losing appetite is an obvious thing after surgery, feeling constipated or nauseated are also a couple of pretty common feelings.
It’s important to understand that staying properly hydrated and following a healthy diet after your surgery promotes healing and also reduces the chances of any complications during the process. Following something as simple as drinking water quickly after your surgery can reduce the impact of anaesthesia too.
Protein plays an important role in facilitating tissue healing and repair. A number of other nutrients are also crucial, such as:
● Minerals like selenium, zinc, and copper
● Antioxidants like Vitamins A, C, and E
● Omega-3 fatty acids
● Vitamin D
Even if you are struggling with appetite, you can consider eating supplements and high-protein shakes.
Keep Your Pain in Control
Managing your pain and keeping it in check is crucial after your surgery. Despite that, a lot of people hesitate in taking the prescribed medicines post their surgery. Not taking care of your pain can lead to serious complications later on. For instance, too much coughing after your surgery can lead to pneumonia.
Modulating your pain during the recovery process is crucial so that you can recover according to the expected timeline.
What Not to Do After Surgery?
While the tips we mentioned above help you to recover quickly, here are also a few things that you should not be doing at all:
Overdo Things
Trying to do too much too soon after your surgery can take you back by quite a lot. It’s important to follow the instructions of your surgeon, and take timelines very seriously in the process too.
Other than that, listen to what your body has to say. Fatigue and pain are signals that tell your body to slow things down a notch!
Forget Your Medicines
Antibiotics, blood thinners, or other medication are a few medical items that you need to take. That’s where it’s important to ensure that the medicines offer you the right impact.
You can’t forget them, and it’s recommended that you keep a log so that it helps you keep a proper track of your prescriptions.
Conclusion
As far as post-surgery tips are concerned, following the instructions by your healthcare provider is absolutely crucial for a proper recovery. Other steps also are also pretty important, and you should maintain a balance for the perfect recovery post surgery.
At Purple Heron, you get an expert and professional team of surgeons that offer you the best guidance and recommendations, not just for your surgery, but ensuring proper recovery as well.