If you are scheduled to have a back surgery, you will be worried about how it will turn out. The reason for surgical intervention can be a spinal cord injury, unstable spine, crooked spine, etc. No matter what the reason is, the good news is that there are many ways to make sure your operation is successful. All you need to do is to keep in mind that preparation is the key. Mental preparation is important before a spine surgery as it can help empower you to impact your healing and recovery positively. Here is a step-to-step guide on how to prepare for spine surgery.
Follow a Healthy Lifestyle
Your body needs to be healthy prior to your back surgery. The better the shape of the body before the surgery, it is easier for your body to handle the surgery. By reducing unhealthy behaviors and replacing them with healthy ones, you will be able to prepare yourself for a speedy recovery. Excess weight can put undue stress in the body. It is recommended to reduce some weight if your overweight.
Recovery Ready Your Home
A little preparation goes a long way. Depending on the severity of your surgery, ‘recovery-ready’ your house. After your surgery, you will spend some time in the hospital. Eventually, you would get discharged from the hospital and spend the rest of your recovery period in your house. Planning clothes, food, and toiletries within your reach ahead of time can save a lot of time. Try to make everything which you may need easily accessible in your home.
Before your surgery make sure you visit your doctor and create a checklist. You may have to stop some medications prior to the surgery. These medications may include blood thinners or anti-inflammatory medicines. Research about precautions to be taken after the surgery. If the reason for your spine surgery is the cause of a spinal cord injury, keep in mind the medications and precautions to be taken.
Recovering from back surgery can be a long process. Make sure you understand the process and mentally prepare yourself. Understand the implications for your health and lifestyle that you have to follow post-surgery. As per requirement doctors will suggest you undergo physical therapy to help you recover faster.
Spine surgery is a major undertaking. Rehabilitation is an important part for you to benefit from the surgery. A physical therapist can help patients in several ways.
Pain control - A physical therapist is trained to manage pain following back surgery. Pain control is an important step to help patients regain their strength during vestibular rehabilitation. Experiencing some sort of pain during the rehabilitation is common, and it is generally considered as a part of the process.
One-on-one training - A therapist will typically develop a training program and tailor it according to the patient's needs. Therapists focus on muscle facilitation to provide stability following the back surgery. Individualized therapy may also help the patient's mobility and flexibility.
Exercises - It is the key to eliminate fatigue, getting patients to go back to activity safely and avoid re-injury. Exercises, if chosen carefully is can be really helpful to recover from spinal surgery.
Education - One-on-one sessions provides the patient's an opportunity to ask questions. It can help you with an ample amount of knowledge in terms or health, exercise, and recovery.
Recovering from a spine surgery depends on your willingness to work hard individually and with the therapist. From improving recovery times to shortening hospital stays, physiotherapy is a vital key for your pre and post-operative surgery. In case you are about to undergo such a surgery, then contact Emerald Hills Physio in Alberta to have the best pre and post care.