If you are scheduled to undergo elective surgery in the near future, you may think that there’s not much you can do ahead of surgery to prepare yourself for life after surgery. Sure, you might clean the house a little or arrange a ride to the surgical center, but other than that, is there anything else you should be doing before the day of surgery? There are a few other smart steps you’ll want to take if you want to give yourself the best chance at a full recovery after your elective procedure. We share four of those steps in today’s blog.
Do These Four Things Before Elective Surgery
If you do these four things prior to your operation, you’ll have a great head start on your rehabilitation once surgery is complete.
- Start Considering PT Providers – The vast majority of elective surgeries will involve physical therapy in some capacity, so it’s beneficial to start considering your options ahead of time. Do some research into physical therapy clinics near you, and even consider giving a few of them a call to see if they have openings and if they have specialists that can help treat the type of procedure you’ll be recovering from. They may even let you come in for a pre-operative consultation to set you up with prehab exercises, which we’ll touch on in the next point.
- Do Your Prehab Exercises – Your body is going to be in a weakened state following the physical trauma of surgery, but the more you work to ensure your body is as strong as possible prior to your operation, the stronger it will be after surgery. Even if you’re having your spinal vertebrae fused or your knee replaced, you’ll stand to benefit from working to make the area stronger and more stable prior to the operation. Your physical therapist can help set you up with a prehab exercise routine that strengthens structures near the area of operation so that it comes out of surgery stronger. Developing a pre-operative physical therapy routine will also make it easier for you to stick to a similar schedule and follow through on your exercises after surgery is complete.
- Mind Your Diet – Your body derives energy and nutrients from the food sources you supply it with, and it’s going to need the right vitamins and minerals to help to recover following the trauma of surgery. Make some smart food choices when it comes to your diet in the days and weeks leading up to your operation, as healthy choices will help your body get what it needs and poor choices can contribute to inflammation and weight gain. If you will be less mobile after your surgical operation while you recover, it’s also a good idea to start monitoring your caloric intake, because it can be easy to gain weight after surgery if you continue to consume the same amount of food but you don’t burn off as many calories because your activity is restricted after surgery. Your nutrient intake can work for or against your recovery, so start developing positive habits prior to your operation.
- Start Thinking About Your Long-Term Goals – If you are undergoing an elective procedure, there are probably some specific reasons why you’re pursuing the procedure. Whether you want to have less pain or become more active and independent, start thinking about why you’re having the surgery and use these reasons to start forming some attainable goals for after surgery. Your physical therapist will talk with you about goal setting and develop a specific rehab routine to help you achieve these goals as best as possible, so the sooner you start setting goals, the easier it will be to chart a course to help you attain them. Start thinking about what’s important to you and how the operation and a healthy recovery can help you work towards these goals.
If you do these four things, we’re confident that you’ll be putting yourself in the best position to make a strong recovery following your elective surgery. For more information, or for help recovering after your surgery or injury, reach out to the team at OrthoRehab Specialists today.