Keep your own recovery on track and avoid these costly mistakes.
Call a Taxi or Ask Someone to Drive For You-
You may think the no-driving rule following surgery is just about anesthesia. And while, yes, a person’s motor skills and judgment can be seriously impaired by anesthesia and pain medications, they are only part of the problem.
If you have an incision wound, however big, you are not going to do it any good by moving around. This includes steering your car, shifting gears, and pressing your accelerator. All of these things can disrupt a wound as well as the sutures holding it in place. Imagine what might happen if you have to hit the brakes quickly or, worse yet, are unable to hit the brakes quickly enough.
Either call a taxi or asks a friend or family member drive you home following surgery. If you live alone, it would also be a good idea to ask someone to stay with you a day or so to help you if there are any problems.
Use Pain Medication as Directed
Some people don’t like the idea of pain medication because it makes them too groggy and unable to function properly. And while this might certainly be the case, avoiding painkillers can actually make you sicker longer.
Why? Because people in pain will invariably move around less than those who have good pain control. Moving less translates to a higher risk of blood clots, especially in the legs. People in pain also don’t breathe as deeply and will do everything to avoid coughing, which can increase the risk of respiratory infections and pneumonia following surgery.
Don’t Lift Heavy Things
Say your doctor tells you not to lift anything greater than 15 pounds for six weeks, but after a week you feel great and can lift 15 pounds with no problem. You must be a fast healer, right?
Wrong. Just because you’re physically able to lift, push, or pull, you shouldn’t ignore that fact that you have a wound that needs healing. Even laparoscopic (“keyhole”) surgeries take at least five to ten days to heal adequately, while larger abdominal ones can take two months or more.
Call a Doctor for Infection
Surgical incisions are at high risk of infection simply by the fact that the skin is broken. To avoid infection, you will need to keep the wound dry, change the dressing as per your doctor’s instruction, and be able to tell when a wound is not healing properly.
After surgery, you may experience soreness, itching, tingling, and numbness around the incision site or notice some swelling or a little oozing. These things are normal and shouldn’t cause concern.
On the other hand, call your doctor if there is pus, excessive bleeding, fever, persistent pain, increasing swelling or redness, or any changes in odor emanating from the wound. These are often signs of a developing infection that needs immediate attention
Do Take Your Full Course of Antibiotics
Always take your medications as prescribed, especially your antibiotics. Just because your incision looks good and you’re feeling great, don’t assume that means you can save the rest of your antibiotics for future use. It doesn’t work that way.
Don’t Smoke
There are no two ways about it: smoking hurts healing. The simple fact is that your wound will heal faster and develop less scarring if you avoid cigarettes during your recovery.
According to research from the Copenhagen Wound Healing Center at the University of Copenhagen, smoking reduces the amount of oxygen able to reach a wound while interfering with inflammatory cells meant to speed healing.
