These days, more so with cosmetic surgery, you have to be wary of fly by night plastic surgeons, who will offer you a cheap procedure and leave you with a host of new imperfections that you never had before. Whatever surgery you have, always choose an experienced board-certified surgeon for your own safety sake. 

If you have a good surgeon, they will discuss what your post-surgery recovery will be. However, you can also do a lot on your own to ensure a smooth recovery.

Injured by the doctor you trusted

Surgical errors from the doctor you put your trust in are more common than you think. This is medical malpractice and there are a number of examples of surgical errors that occur. Then the patient suffers the consequences and these mistakes can result in permanent injuries and death.

This is one time you have to consult with an attorney to ensure some form of justice and monetary compensation to pay for medical treatment. The Hastings law firm in Texas are medical malpractice specialists. 

They were established in 2009 and are tough and relentless when it comes to pursuing justice and winning compensation for their clients. Working on a no-win, no-fee basis, these are Houston-based lawyers worth turning to because this is one area of the law that you dare not attempt on your own.

Stick to your discharge instructions

After any surgery, you will receive discharge instructions on how to look after your incision. This may include instructions on how to take medicines, how to clean the wound and bandage it as well as instructions on what activities you should avoid. You will also be informed on how to speed up healing by eating the right kinds of foods and what exercises to do.

You will also be informed to call your surgeon’s office if you’re worried about anything or if you have any complications. Your surgeon will also have given you a date for your next appointment and it is imperative to keep this appointment and all others the doctor schedules for you.

Sticking to your hospital discharge instructions will ensure you don’t have to return to the hospital.

Get up and about

You may not feel like it after you’ve had surgery, but the quicker you get moving, the better. The speed at which one returns to preoperative independence determines the speed at which you recover, both mentally and physically. 

After surgery, pulmonary complications, as well as pneumonia, are the leading cause of postoperative death. Confinement to bed is a risk factor for these conditions, and if you’re up and moving, you automatically take deeper breaths, so important for warding off pulmonary embolism and pneumonia. 

Lying in bed day after day results in muscle loss and weakness while moving improves recovery and strength.

Sneezing the wrong way?

Even before surgery, it can only be to your benefit to learn to sneeze and cough the right way. For example, with pelvic organ prolapse, you want to make sure you don’t cough and sneeze violently to prevent the organs from pressing against the vagina.

Also, sneezing incorrectly isn’t good after some surgeries, and with an abdominal incision, for instance, you can actually do serious harm to your incision because a violent sneeze can cause an incision to pop open. You get wound separation, known as Dehiscence – a surgical complication where the wound edges no longer meet. 

When an incision heals, the new tissue isn’t strong yet. In severe cases, when the incision opens totally, it becomes a surgical emergency. This is because it could lead to a complication known as evisceration, where the organs can even extend outside the incision. The incision will need to be covered with wet sterile bandages while you wait for emergency medical care.