3 Ways to Help Post-Operative Recovery Along

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For most people, a trip to the doctor is needed just once a year, and often yields unremarkable results – besides warnings against, say, possible high blood pressure or something equally concerning. For others, however, it might lead to a discovery of something that needs immediate attention; if the problem is serious, then it may mean surgery, too.

While a daunting prospect, surgery usually isn't the difficult part – it's the recovery period afterward that can take a while, depending as much on your health as well as your resilience. To avoid surgery altogether, you could adopt a healthy lifestyle New Year resolution Adelaide. But, this is usually easier said than done.

What can you do to make recovery easier for you?

1. Boost immunity. Post-operative recovery can hit a roadblock if your immune system is somehow impaired. Antibiotics can actually suppress immunity, while physical reserves are usually stretched to their limit to fight infection and repair tissue while you're recovering.

Pump up your immune system by eating foods rich in Vitamin C and Vitamin A, and drink green tea for added defence against carcinogens while you're trying to get back up 100%.

2. Good nutrition. The more invasive the procedure, the more important this becomes since the more your reserves will be stretched. You'll want to start with a mostly liquid diet, meaning vegetable and meat broths and soups, pureed fruit and fruit juice, and other healthy foods.

You may also want to try a juice fast for a while, and then work your way back up to a balanced diet of solid foods. This should help your body rid itself of any lingering toxins you were exposed to before, during, and after surgery. 

3. Manage pain. The pain of surgery usually doesn't kick in until afterwards, when the anaesthetic has worn off completely. Hospitals rely on a cocktail of medications to keep the pain at bay, but you don't want to have to rely on them all the time. Instead, try using natural pain relievers like bromelain, derived from pineapple stems.

Hypnosis is another option to help you keep pain from becoming overwhelming, by helping you focus on something other than the pain. After all, hypnotherapy for weight loss or to stop bad habits isn't the only way hypnosis is used these days.