After Surgery: What You Need To Know

If you’re having surgery, it’s important to understand what to expect. But you’ll also want to set yourself up for success once you get home. Here’s what you need to know.  

Pain Management

One of the most common complaints after surgery is pain. Before your surgery, your doctor will talk to you about pain medications, and on the day of your surgery, they will provide a prescription.

Your doctor might treat your post-surgery pain with a combination of medications, using a plan known as multimodal pain management. Your plan may include any of the following:

• Opioids, such as oxycodone, prescribed for short-term use, perhaps for the first few days.
• Neuropathic pain agents or possibly muscle relaxers for the first few days.
• Non-opioid pain medications, such as acetaminophen or NSAIDs, better suited to longer use.

This multi-pronged strategy can more effectively treat pain and decrease the likelihood of opioid dependence. If at any point your pain levels are intolerable, reach out to your surgeon. You might need a higher dose or a different medication for a few days. If you’re in recovery from drugs and alcohol and wish to avoid oxycodone and other opioids, let your doctor know before your surgery.

Pain Management Side Effects

The No. 1 side effect of pain medications such as oxycodone is constipation. Any bowel pain after surgery is most likely caused by a lack of bowel movements. To offset this, buy a stool softener before the surgery so you have it available should you need it. You can also combat constipation by walking soon after your surgery. Adding movement back into your routine will help not just with bowel movements, but with pain management and healing.

Avoid Water Submersion

You can shower starting 24 to 48 hours after your surgery. The stitches can withstand that amount of water, as well as gentle washing. Use an antibacterial soap to prevent infection. Your incisions can’t be submerged, which could cause them to open up. This means that for two weeks, you must avoid:

• Baths
• Pools
• Lakes
• Oceans
• Hot tubs

Your stitches or staples will be taken out after two weeks.

What Comes Next

A week or two after your surgery, you’ll meet again with your doctor or surgical team for a follow-up appointment to monitor your healing as well as discuss considerations for the coming weeks.

Add in Activity Slowly

After surgery, you’ll want to slowly resume your normal schedule of movement and activity. The first week, if you feel up to it, walk around your home and sit up in a chair. Ease into small household chores, such as doing dishes or the laundry, to reintroduce your healing body to different movements. When you’re ready, walk a block or two outside. See how you feel afterward. You want to avoid lying in bed all day, which hinders proper healing. It’s natural to want to stay in bed because of the pain, the major stress your body endured, the emotional aftermath of a surgery and the lingering effects of anesthesia. It’s OK to be gentle with yourself for the first few days, but if you find that after that you still feel depressed and struggle to resume activity, talk to your doctor.

When You’re Finished Taking Pain Medications

Typically, you’ll be supplied enough pain medications to last no more than three days. You may find that you don’t need to take all the prescribed pills. If you have extra, please don’t flush them down the toilet; most municipal water treatment systems lack the capability to fully remove drugs. Instead, take them back to the pharmacy, which will properly dispose of them.

Physical Therapy

If physical therapy wasn't been discussed before surgery, bring it up in your follow-up visit. In many cases, it’s part of the recovery process. However, not everyone needs it.

Resuming Your Regular Medications

Many medications are halted before surgery. Once you’re post-op, you can resume medications at specific times.

• Most medications are safe to resume immediately after surgery.
• Blood thinners can typically be resumed 48 hours after surgery.
• GLP-1s can be resumed once your appetite and bowel function returns.
• Diabetics will have high sugar levels post-surgery as part of the body’s natural stress response. Talk to your doctor ahead of time about what to expect. Blood sugar levels are especially important after surgery; if they stay elevated for too long, that can affect a wound’s ability to heal.

Returning to Work

Every surgeon has their own specifications for returning to work. A simple hernia surgery may only require a few days of rest, whereas a major abdominal surgery may require as much as six weeks. Your doctor’s suggested timeline is typically discussed during the consent process so that you know what to expect.