Surgery is traumatic to the body and the mind and surgeons like Michael Giuffrida know that surgery patients need to focus on post recovery issues that help them heal more quickly and completely. Here is a list of some of the things the good doctor recommends for those who have had surgery.
Give Yourself Time to Feel Normal Again
The period following your surgery you will feel quite different than normal. Your body will still be adjusting from the anesthesia you had during the surgery, you will be on pain and other medications and your mind and body will be attempting to make sense of the trauma that has occurred and is still occurring inside of you. The combination of these issues will no doubt cause you to feel strange and disconnected. Understand that you will be going through a range of emotions from happiness to despair and from comfort to pain and sometimes within a very short period of time, and that this is absolutely normal. Al that is required for these feelings to pass is some time. So bear with it, rest, stop worrying, let your body readjust and you will be back to normal in a short while.
Follow Your Doctor’s Precise Recovery Plan
Your doctor has done this dozens or hundreds of times with patients just like you and he knows exactly what you should do to heal and get back to health again. He or he will lay out a list of dos and don’ts that you need to follow precisely. Your doctor will also give you a list of things to look out for that are abnormal and should be tended to immediately. In this instance you will be told how to contact your doctor immediately. You should never depend on your body to give you signals about if you are healing properly, listen to your doctor ad follow his instructions only.
Take Your Pain Medications
Many people are reluctant to take too much pain medication because they can be additive if taken for lengthy periods. Although this is true, when you have had surgery you need heavy pain medication. You should take your meds right no schedule no matter how you are feeling because if you pain kicks in you will want to die. Also it is important to remember that pain can create more problems than it solves. One particular problem is that pain can trigger biomechanical compensation which that can lead to new or further injuries. Yes you will feel some pain, but take your meds as prescribed to heal better and more quickly.
Get Your Rest
Depending on your surgery you may or may not feel the need for lots of rest. But you need to get your rest anyway. Your body does most of its healing when many of its systems shut down and it can focus on the parts of you that were operated on. So whenever you feel tired rest and if you do not feel tired rest regularly.
Follow your doctor’s orders and do the things prescribed and soon you will be back on your feet.
