By Arina Smith
Almost regardless of what type of surgery you’re having, whether it’s something relatively minor like a cyst removal or something more major like a rhinoplasty, you’re likely to have some pain, bruising, or swelling after the surgery is over. But with the right plan for care following your surgery, you can work to minimize these inconveniences while you’re healing.
To show you just how this can be done, here are three tips to help you reduce bruising and swelling after surgery.
Practice R.I.C.E. Carefully:
In some situations, using the R.I.C.E. method—rest, ice, compression, elevation—can work very well for reducing swelling and limiting bruising. However, you’ll want to be careful with this method and only use it for applicable surgeries or circumstances.
According to Dr. Neal Blitz, a contributor to the Huffington Post, you should be very careful when using ice after surgery, as it can constrict your blood vessels and sometimes cause more harm than good. So before you use ice, make sure you consult your doctor first. Additionally, if you have a dressing over your wound, that will often be all the compression that you should have as you’re healing, so make sure you run the R.I.C.E. method by your surgeon before practicing it post-op.
Get Some Sun:
To help with healing bruises, Dr. Stacey Sampson, a contributor to Healthline.com, shares that you might want to try spending a few extra minutes in the sun with your bruise exposed directly to those bright rays.
When your bruises are exposed to the sun, the UV radiation can help to break down the bilirubin that causes your bruise to change that yellow color as it heals. So especially as your bruising starts to heal, try to get outside for about fifteen minutes a few times each day so that your bruise can start to heal quicker and look better days sooner than it otherwise would.
Eat Anti-Inflammatory Foods:
The food you eat following your surgery can have a big impact on how well you do physically while you recover. By eating the right foods and steering clear of foods that could have a negative effect on you, you can have less inflammation and fewer chances of post-op complications.
Jennifer Barry, a contributor to Medical News Today, shares that some of the best foods to eat after surgery because of their anti-inflammatory nature include things like pineapple, citrus fruits, leafy green vegetables, lean protein, and foods with a lot of natural zinc and quercetin.
If you’re worried about the swelling or bruising that you’ll experience as you heal from surgery, especially if you’re getting work done on a very prominent part of your body, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you find ways to reduce these signs of recovery.
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