Best Tips for Recovery From Heart Surgery

Overview

The first phase of heart surgery recovery can last from six to eight weeks. When the patient is released from the hospital, you will get a set of instructions for post-surgery care. The best tips for recovery from heart surgery will help you to heal physically and feel better.

Taking Care of the Cut Made by Your Surgeon

Keep the cut made by your surgeon clean and dry. You can take a bath or shower within a few days. Call the doctor if you experience the following signs of infection:

• Edges pull apart
• More drainage or oozing than usual
• Fever greater than 100F
• Redness or warmth around the cut

You should call your doctor when the breast bone feels like it shifts or if it pops or cracks when you move.

Pain Relief

Your doctor will prescribe the pain medication before you leave the hospital. There will be some discomfort around the cut and in your muscles such as numbness, itchiness and tightness along the incision which are quite normal. However, it should not hurt as much as it did before the surgery. If you had a bypass, your legs may hurt more than your chest if the surgeon has used leg veins as grafts. The soreness and stiffness will fade with time. Gentle exercises will help.

Driving After Heart Surgery

Your doctor will let you know when it is alright to drive again; often it will be within a month or so post heart surgery. It will be sooner if the surgeon did the operation with just a small cut. There is no need to wait to ride as a passenger.

Daily Activities

For the first six to eight weeks, you will gradually build up your activity such as household chores. Generally, doctors recommend:

• Don’t lift things which weigh more than 10 pounds
• Don’t stand in one place longer than 15 minutes
• Don’t push or pull heavy things
• Walk everyday

Follow the guidelines of your doctor or the cardiac rehabilitation specialist. Unless you have been told not to, you can climb stairs.

Diet

The healthy food choices will help the healing process. Your doctor will let you know if you should have or avoid specific foods. You may not feel like eating for a while post surgery; therefore try smaller meals, more often. If you appetite doesn’t return within a few weeks, bring this up with your doctor.

Sleep

Most people have trouble sleeping post the heart surgery. You should get back to a normal slumber pattern within a few months. Take medications about half an hour before bedtime, if the pain keeps you up. Arrange the pillows so you can stay in a comfortable position. You will need to rest after activity. Try not to take a lot of naps during the day.

Avoid caffeine, including chocolate, tea, coffee and some sodas in the evening. Settle into a bedtime routine, listening to relaxing music will help since your body will learn these cues and it’s the time to snooze. Call your doctor if lack of sleep starts affecting your mood or behavior.

Conclusion

You can expect a gradual recovery from heart surgery. It will take up to six weeks before you start feeling better and up to six months to feel the full benefits of the surgery. The outlook is good for many patients and the grafts can work for many years. You can join a cardiac rehabilitation program or a support group. Call your doctor if you feel uneasiness post heart surgery.

Source:

http://www.indianhealthguru.com/blog/cardiac-surgery-india/heart-surgery-india/

Tips for Safe Exercise After Open Heart Surgery

The recovery time after the open heart surgery is crucial and it took take about six to eight weeks for the patients. It is common for the physical therapist to visit you post surgery to get you up on your feet for short walks at the hospital. Since each case is different, therefore you should adhere to the specific guidelines provided by your surgeon or cardiologists. Bed rest is important and you should also perform the low level activities during the recovery period. Practical activities such as a low pace walking is significant to avoid the negative effects such as joint and muscle stiffness, muscle atrophy, loss of balance and coordination, etc. of the surgery and the best rest.

While resuming activities after the open heart surgery, you can feel frustrated that you cannot do the activities which you did before the surgery. But you should relax since this is only temporary and you can follow these tips for safe exercise after the open heart surgery:

Climbing stairs and Steps

You may climb the stairs and steps after the open heart surgery, but beware you should opt for the gradual approach. Initially, you will feel difficulty to climb the stairs immediately post surgery, since the operation is a trauma on your body and the medications for reducing the heart rate and blood pressure will make you feel sluggish.

Start with a single flight of stair, if you feel short of breath; then stop and take rest. As you start feeling stronger, gradually increase the number of stairs and reduce the breaks.

Overhead lifting

You can lift your arms over head for light activities such as putting the dishes on the cupboard. Try to limit the heavy objects and having the arms overhead for a longer period of time. You will not find it comfortable given the incision but you should try working within your pain free range of motion.

Sample exercise programs

You can follow the sample exercise programs which aims to wean yourself. You need to follow from shorter to longer exercise durations by minimizing how many exercising bouts you perform each day.

Aerobic exercises

Engage in aerobic exercises which work the large musculature of the lower body such as the hips and legs. These exercises are rhythmic in nature and you can perform them over an extended period of time i.e. more than 20 minutes. You should choose the exercise which you enjoy as this will help to improve your chances of sticking with it over the long term.

Perform a gradual 5 to 10 warmup and cool down before and after each exercise session. This will help your body to accommodate high intensities and minimize the risks of adverse effects. Try to avoid over-exerting yourself immediately following the open heart surgery. Since the sharp rise in the heart rate and blood pressure could aggravate your situation. Stick to the KISS; Keep It Slowly and Steady! Establish your fitness foundation slowly. Cycling and walking are two common activities which you can handle reasonably without any ill effects. If you find yourself with shortness of breath or gasping for air, ease up the pace.

Watch out the environmental stressors such as heat, cold or strong winds as they can make your exercise routine seem quite difficult. Be vigilant of any exercise induced signs or symptoms and immediately report them to your doctor. If these symptoms do not subside even after stopping the exercises or gets worse during rest, then seek emergency medical care.

Strength training or weight lifting

It is now recognized as an integral part of open heart surgery recovery plan. It can be safely administered in risk stratified cardiac patients who are now stable and can be managed medically. Since surgery and bed rest can lead to muscle atrophy, resistance training will help to offset the negative health effects and promote healing and wellbeing.

Before undertaking any of these exercises, it is important to discuss about your activity plans to your surgeon or cardiologist. Low level walking is advised post open heart surgery recovery phase. In order to advance the higher exercise intensities, you’ll be well advised to join a structured cardiac rehabilitation program which will help you to establish safe exercise intensity limits you can follow yourself.

Source:

https://healthcareandbeautytricks.wordpress.com/2016/06/17/can-too-much-exercise-harm-the-heart/