You’ve just woken up from surgery and mercifully the pain remains at bay but then a few hours in, a dull ache starts and by the end of the day, after a long battle of trying to avoid taking medication, you’re in unexplainable agony and cave. It’s easy to reach for pain medication readily provided post-op but what about a more natural and holistic approach to managing pain?
Pain doesn’t have to be suppressed with medicine; there are alternatives that serve the same purpose albeit without straining the liver to rid the body of unwanted by-products. In fact, the main purpose of pain medication is to keep you comfortable so that recovery and post surgery complications can be kept to a minimum.
Some people could face issues with off-the-counter pain medication like allergic reactions to paracetamol or topical pain-relief creams and it is advisable that your doctor is informed so better pain relief choices can be made to manage pain post-surgery.
It is also common to feel pain in areas other than the actual incision site as a significant amount of time is spent on the operating table; so muscle aches is the neck, shoulder, back or chest can be expected. Sudden movements resulting from coughing, walking or even sitting up could cause flashes of pain at the incision site from the surrounding muscles contracting.
Ironically, it is imperative that you avoid prolonged bouts of sitting and instead have some freedom to move and adequate sleep to jog muscle memory and keep muscle loss at bay.
NATRAHEA’s functional wellness program starts off with a muscle assessment that consists of a 1-on-1 session with our therapist to test for muscle balance and mobility. Following which, the therapist will guide you through 30 minutes of a personalized rehabilitation program focused on enabling you to move about significantly better.
If needs must, take pain medication before the discomfort becomes worse. By keeping ahead of the pain, your body is able to give itself enough time to break down pain relievers so that your body can metabolize and absorb the medication in time before the pain gets unbearable.
