How Can you Prepare Before Hand Surgery?

Posted on 10/19/2018

One of the best ways to improve the outcome of any surgery is to take steps to prepare yourself before your appointment. This will help you to feel calmer and more in control ahead of your surgery as you will know what to expect and be in the best possible health.

Here are our top tips for how to prepare before hand surgery
 

Ask questions

One of the most important steps to prepare for your hand surgery is to use your consultation or an additional appointment to meet with your surgeon and ask any questions that you will certainly have. When it comes to any type of procedure, knowledge is power and the more that you understand about what will happen, the better you will be able to work through your recovery period.
 

Stop smoking

Smoking is probably the single worst thing that you can do for your health and many patients do not realize quite how far-reaching the consequences of this habit can be. One of the side effects of smoking is poor healing. This occurs because nicotine reduces the amount of oxygen that body tissues are able to receive – something which is essential to the healing process. Studies have shown that it takes smokers significantly longer to recover from surgeries that those who stub out the cigarettes.
 

Follow the instructions of your surgeon

There are certain medications that should be stopped ahead of any sort of surgery, including that which is performed on the hands and wrists. During your consultation, your surgeon will ask you is you take any medications or have any other health problems as these will need to be taken into account in the preparations for your operation. If you need to stop a vital medication, your surgeon may need to work with your usual doctor to find an alternative to take in the week or so before your hand surgery.
 

Schedule enough time off of work

One of the biggest mistakes made by patients is failing to schedule enough time off of work. Rushing back to work before you are properly healed can cause complications and even affect the outcome of your surgery. Your surgeon will be able to advise you how long you should plan to be away from work so that you can rest and recuperate without worrying about getting your position covered.
 

Make life easier at home

The aftermath of any surgery is much simpler if you take steps to make life easier for once you return home. This can mean a variety of things from having someone take your children to and from school for the first week, to hiring someone to clean for you, to cooking and freezing meals before you go in for your surgery. Knowing that these preparations have been done will make you feel calmer and more relaxed both going in for your operation, and immediately after, and you won’t feel under as much pressure to rush your recovery.

If you are scheduled for hand surgery and would like some more tips on the best way to prepare for your operation, our friendly and experienced team would be delighted to offer their advice and support. Please contact our offices at your convenience.