Postoperative Care - Do's And Don't!

You probably think many more things can go wrong during surgery as compared to after surgery. However, you are wrong. The chances of infection after surgery are very high and it used to be the highest cause of unsuccessful surgery in the past before it was known just how deadly infection is. A doctor, however, cannot monitor everything afterwards. Therefore, it is crucial you know and take care after the surgery.

Here are some ways in which you can do so: 

1. Keep it dry
It is crucial that you keep the incision dry for whatever period of time the doctor tells you to keep it dry as otherwise the chances of infection increase dramatically. Some of the things you should do to keep it dry is to not take a bath, scrub the incisions or put lotions on it.

2. Check for signs of infection
This may be the easiest thing to do as there are many symptoms of an infection. These include a change in the color, size, or odor of the incision, fever, redness, hardening or heating of the surrounding area or in extreme cases more bleeding and pain than usual.

3. Changing a dressing
This is a major cause of infections among surgery patients and the only way to prevent it is to follow the doctor's instructions to a tee. Once again, trust your doctor and visit him regularly for changing the dressing. Do not put alcohol, iodine or hydrogen peroxide either.