Virinchi Hospital

Any surgery that requires an incision will involve sutures or staples as the last step of the procedure. This helps close the incision and keep out infections. Taking care of your stitches can help limit scarring and discomfort and speed up the healing process. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Keep it clean and dry: For the first few days, use a washed wet cloth to clean the incision site. After a few days, you may start washing the area with soap and water unless advised else wise by your doctor. Ensure that you dry the skin thoroughly after washing it. Avoid baths that involve soaking the area in water. Also, avoid swimming. Do not use any powders, lotions, creams, deodorants etc on the wound site.
2. Look out for signs of infections: Avoid activities that may involve exposing your wound to dirty water, chemicals, dust etc. This increases your risk of infections. Also look out for signs f infections such as redness, swelling, pus or bleeding, fever or increased pain from the wound. In case you notice such signs, consult your doctor at the earliest.
3. Do not scratch: As it heals, your skin is likely to turn itchy. However, refrain from scratching so as to reduce chances of infections. Do not try and pull away from the scab but let it fall off on its own. This will also help limit scarring.
4. Limit contact: Avoid wearing tight clothes or anything that sticks to the skin while your wound is healing. Instead have plenty of loose, comfortable clothes easily accessible. Also, do not take part in close contact sports such as football etc until the stitches have healed completely.
5. Change your dressing regularly: A dressing should be changed as soon as it gets wet or soaked with blood or other body fluids. Wear clean medical gloves while changing a dressing. When putting on a new dressing do not touch the inside of the dressing or apply any creams on the stitches unless advised so by your doctor. In the case of removable stitches, the doctor will usually remove the stitches after a few days. DO not attempt to pull the stitches out on your own.
6. Avoid exposing the wound to sunlight: New skin that forms as the incision heals is very sensitive to sunlight and gets sunburnt very easily. Limiting your exposure to sunlight can help reduce the effects of scarring.

Breast cancer is characterized by an abnormal multiplication of cells in the tissues of the breast. The disease is the second most common cancer in women, and mostly affects women in the age group 55-65. However, the disease may occur in men as well.

Causes-

The exact cause of breast cancer is not known as of now. Some of the factors that influence multiplication of cells are your genes and the environment. Other factors such as late menopause, being subjected to hormone therapy post-menopause and dense breast tissues can be other triggers for this disease.

Symptoms-

The symptoms of breast cancer are:

1. Discharge from your nipples
2. A swelling in the breast
3. You may have a lump in your armpits
4. The skin around the breast may become flaky
5. The skin around the breast may be irritated

Treatments-

The treatment depends on the size, grade and stage of the breast cancer. The sensitivity of the cancerous cells to the hormones in the body is also considered in this regard. The various treatment methods are:

1. Surgery: There are multiple types of surgeries which may be used to treat breast cancer. In some cases, only a small area of the breast may be removed if the size of the tumor is small. Sometimes, mastectomy is performed where the entire breast tissue has to be removed.
2. Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is a type of treatment in which the cancerous cells are targeted by using certain drugs which are injected in to the body. However, chemotherapy has its own share of side effects such as hair loss, sudden and drastic weight loss and persistent fatigue.
3. Radiation Therapy: This procedure involves using radiations such as x-rays to destroy cancer cells in the body. This procedure is carried out with the help of a machine that focuses radiation on the affected areas of the body. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Obesity is unarguably one of the most regularly discussed topics around the world. A major section of the world's population is suffering from a variety of obesity related problems. There are a number of natural methods to check obesity; however, several medical surgeries are gaining popularity among the masses with instant results to reduce weight.

Here is a list of the most common types of weight loss surgeries:

1. Gastric sleeve surgery: This surgery is performed where removal of a large part of the stomach takes place. A long pouch is created, which connects the small intestine with the oesophagus. The pouch gets stapled and after that the other parts of the stomach are reduced. In some cases, an additional step is taken for reinforcement of the staple line.

Gastric sleeve reduces the size of the stomach and a patient will feel full after eating lesser amount of food. Because a portion of the stomach is reduced, lesser amount of hunger causing hormones are produced. The patient will therefore feel less hungry.

2. Gastric bypass surgery: This is another effective weight loss surgery, which reduces the patient's stomach size, resulting in reduced appetite. The intestines are rearranged, which makes the body absorb fewer minerals. While performing this surgery, the stomach is cut and stapled to create a pouch. 

The remaining stomach is attached to the small intestine's top portion, and the small intestine is cut and attached to the pouch as well. After this, the end portion of the small intestine is connected with the non-pouch part of the stomach and is attached to the roux limb bottom. This makes the stomach's digestive juices to meet the food present in the intestines.

3. Duodenal switch: This surgery reduces the stomach size in patients, which leads to decreased appetite or craving for food. Fewer hormones, which cause hunger, are secreted and the rearrangement of the intestine causes the body to absorb minimal minerals or calories.

A part of the stomach is removed and a pouch is created. The small intestine's top portion is cut off, but the duodenum is kept attached to the stomach. The small intestines are cut, and the part attached to the large intestine called colon is connected with the duodenum. Finally, the loose end of the small intestine gets attached to the small intestine to enable digestive juices to mix with food.

4. Lap band surgery: By this surgery, a band is wrapped around the upper middle section of the stomach which squeezes the stomach. Thus a smaller section of the stomach is created above the band which fills up very quickly while having food. The patient feels full by eating less. A laparoscopic adjustable gastric band is used.

There are many different weight loss surgeries. Most of them aim at reducing the capacity of the stomach, so that the person eats less food.