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3 Sternal Precautions You Need to Follow After Surgery

3 Sternal Precautions You Need to Follow After Surgery

After heart surgery, it’s normal to want to return to everyday activities. Your routine will occur with time, but first, your body needs proper rest to heal the sternum after the procedure. To ensure that you recover and advance at the appropriate rate, there are precautions to take for sternum stabilization.

1. Avoid Lifting Heavy Weights

It can be difficult to adjust to limited exercises, but it will help speed up recovery time. If you are used to performing arm exercises, do not lift anything heavier than ten pounds. For the first eight weeks of your recovery, you should only raise one-half or one pound weights to improve sternum stabilization. Ten bicep curls on each side is a gentle start. Make sure to have a pillow or some form of security harness to protect your sternum.

Why Your Patients Need Heart Hugger

Why Your Patients Need Heart Hugger

In today's world, we have a lot of questions and three times as many answers. Sometimes, that's a good thing. We can get second (and third) opinions on just about anything. We can get the same information from a variety of perspectives. We can choose how to solve problems because the power of technology and modern study has afforded us the ability to decide on the best option instead of the only option. However, more choices can also mean more confusion. How can anyone know if they're making the best possible choice when there are so many possibilities? The key is to get all of the information, study the facts, and then, ultimately, trust your instincts--and this is especially true when making patient care decisions.

The Benefits of a Postoperative Bra

The Benefits of a Postoperative Bra

What do you think of when you hear the word "healing?" It is a term that has countless positive connotations throughout our society. To be healed is to be cured of some pain, illness, or problem. To be healed is to feel strong and whole again. To be healed is to place a bandage over the wounds of the mind and the body--a bandage which, though it may work slowly and steadily, has the power to repair what has been broken. Of course, "healing" also has more literal meanings, the definitions that conjure up images of white lab coats, bottles of antibiotics, and glimmering medical utensils. However, no matter what comes to mind when you think about healing, the truth is that healing of all kinds can often use a helping hand.

A Definitive Checklist for Before and After Heart Surgery

A Definitive Checklist for Before and After Heart Surgery

Undergoing heart surgery creates a host of emotions. The best way to minimize nervousness is to prepare. Recovery is six to eight weeks long, and steps you take before and after will result in a successful recovery.

Preparing for Heart Surgery

  • Coordinate Support: Compile a list of individuals who are willing to help you, including two primary people who will take care of the bulk of your needs. Have them monitor the number of visitors who come to see you.

  • Prepare Your Body: Retaining a regular exercise schedule and booking massage therapy will aid in preparation for surgery as well as improve recovery time.

  • Set Up an Area of Comfort: Post-surgery you will be unable to lie in bed, so establish a recliner or other comfortable furniture before surgery.

Sternum Stabilization for Broken Ribs

Sternum Stabilization for Broken Ribs

As we know, properly stabilizing the chest after injury or surgery is incredibly important. This is because of how important the chest itself is; without strong support and protection, everything from breathing to a normal heart rate can be affected, and all of it comes at a steep price to the patient's comfort and healing progress. Yes, sternum stabilization is crucial--but when a patient has broken ribs, sternum stabilization becomes even more important.

A Postoperative Bra Can Help

A Postoperative Bra Can Help

We've all likely heard it at least once it our lives: "All you need to focus on is getting better." It sounds so simple--but, in reality, "getting better" is actually a pretty big concept to focus on, especially after cardiac surgery. Rehabilitation requires lifestyle changes. It requires determination. It requires work. In order to recover from cardiac surgery, you often have to focus on things that we've all spent a lifetime taking for granted, like breathing, moving, eating, and sleeping. Even though "all you need to focus on is getting better," there's still a lot to do--but with a surgical support garment like a Postoperative Bra, you can mark a few things off the list.

Considering Respiratory Splinting for a Fractured Rib

Considering Respiratory Splinting for a Fractured Rib

Rib fractures are surprisingly common. Just like with every other bone, ribs can be fractured in multiple different ways, and the specifics are crucial in deciding treatment and care. Rib fractures can be uncomplicated, which means that the bone is broken in only one location, or complicated, which means that the ribs are broken in multiple locations or are extremely unstable.

Because of the location and huge responsibility of the ribs themselves, even an uncomplicated rib fracture could lead to serious complications; internal chest bleeding, lung collapse, fluid accumulation, and countless other medical issues can arise. As a result, there are a few important things to consider when you have a fractured rib.

What to Know About Fractured Ribs

So, what needs to be on your mind if you fracture a rib? Here's a quick look!

What is Cardiac Rehab?

What is Cardiac Rehab?

The human body is a truly amazing machine. Against all odds, our bones, muscles, and organs work together to keep us alive, functioning in ways that we still don't fully understand. Consider, for just a moment, all of the events taking place within any of us right now. The heart is beating. The lungs are working to breathe. The brain is computing thousands of thoughts, sensations, and messages every second. The body is completely responsible for these functions, ensuring that they take place and that they succeed--and it's a good thing, too, because no one really knows how to voluntarily beat their own heart or control messages sent by the brain.

When it comes right down to it, we do very little to take care of our bodies considering how much they do for us. However, there are some occasions when the body demands more care, like after cardiac surgery--and on those occasions, rehabilitation is the answer.

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