Integrative Medicine – Prepare for surgery……Heal Faster
Are you about to undergo surgery?
Are you feeling anxious and apprehensive about it?
Does the idea of not being able to control what’s going on make you concerned?
Are you worried about the outcome of the operation?
Are you concerned how you will feel afterwards or how long it will take to recover?
All of these worries are understandable, but they can overwhelm you and make the wait for surgery more stressful than it needs to be. The truth is, you have more control than you think. You already know, logically, that surgery is the right course of action for you and that it will help to restore you to health.
Now imagine what it would be like to :
- Replace any concerns with a sense of anticipation
- Feel calm and confident about your upcoming surgery
- Trust the surgeon and your own ability to heal successfully
The idea of surgery can be very stressful as well as confusing. This stress response can not only be uncomfortable but can actually undermine the recovery systems in the body. Recovery makes great demands on the immune system to allow wound healing, minimize drug toxicity and speed recovery. The surgical outcome can therefore be impacted by the way a patient deals with stress.
In preparing for surgery, Mery’s approach comprises of a few steps uniquely tailored to each individual patient. Mery’s background as a Senior Surgical Practitioner enables her to have a good understanding of the various surgical procedures that patients routinely undergo. She can understand the effect of surgery on the patients mood and outlook and her goal is to underline the importance of a healthy, optimistic mood about the upcoming procedure. This same positive approach and healthy anticipation will also influence the beneficial aspects on recovery in terms of speed and quality. She ensures that negative thinking and unhelpful thought patterns are avoided and uses mindset techniques including hypnosis and self-hypnosis. These techniques alleviate anxiety and promote relaxation in the important period before surgery and aid a rapid, healthy recovery.
To supplement these techniques, Mery supplies an individually focused recording for the patient to listen to on a daily basis. This further promotes the reduction of anxiety, the quality of healing and pain control.
