Any surgery demands that you take care of yourself after, in order to ensure you heal properly. Most people do not know that by simply doing the right things you can in some cases take weeks of your recovery time and avoid a lot of painful days and nights and complications from your procedure. Surgeons like James P DeVellis recommend that you have a post operations set of guidelines to assist you in healing.
For the first 24 to 36 hours after your surgery, due to the local or general anesthesia, pain killers, nerve blockers, you will not feel like yourself. You will likely feel like you are outside of your body and having a strange experience. The medication may make you nauseous, sad, happy, and in some cases laugh. This is all normal and you should expect it to happen and go away after this short period. The key is to realize that it is the meds and not you. After this period there are things you should voluntarily do to help you heal.
The list of things to do after an operation is never exact because everyone is different. There are however some things that everyone should do in order to have the best results form a surgical procedure. Here are some of those things;
Follow your Post Operation Recovery Plan
Your doctor and physical therapist will lay out for you a very specific plan for recovering from your operation. This plan is important because like with any major operation, your body will be in crisis mode and with the pain and other medications you will be taking, it will not always be able to tell you what you need to do and when. So you need to listen to the professionals and not your body during this period. Yes you should alert them if something is amiss and if you are feeling aches, pains, nausea and other adverse feelings when you should not, but you need to rely on their experience to get you back to health.
Prepare Yourself for Setbacks
No recovery happens in a straight line there will be good and bad days and progress and setbacks. This is normal and you should expect it. So get ready for them and be patient with yourself. Do not compare yourself to others who have has a similar procedure and their timelines for healing. Everyone is different and so comparing ourselves to one another only leads to frustration and disappointment. Take things easy and heal at your own pace.
Watch Your Diet
You should plan to only eat fresh and healthy food after surgery. Food plays an important role in your recovery process and having the right nutrients gives your body the fuel and raw materials it needs to heal. Stay away from overly sweet foods and those that can cause gas. No alcohol and caffeine should be limited. Drink lots of water and stay away from any fried foods if possible.
Keep Your Spirits Up
Do things that make you happy during this period. Invite over good friends and family, watch funny films, play board or card games with the kids only listen o good news. Keep yourself smiling and laughing and stay away from stress inducers, and you will heal more quickly.
Get lots of Rest
When you rest, your body can spend much more of it energy on healing. So you need to rest every chance you get. Plan to take several naps during the day and every time you feel the need. And plan to get your eight hours rest every night. This strategy will help build your strength and get you back on your feet quicker and feeling spry like a Fox.
Doing anything other than what you read here may not be misconduct, but it could cause your recovery time to increase. Do these things and you will be up and around in no time.
