Managing Pain After Heart Surgery

Cardiothoracic surgery outcomes depend heavily on the quality of postoperative care, and medical professionals are constantly seeking evidence-based solutions that improve patient recovery while reducing hospital costs. Heart Hugger™ stands out as a Medicare-approved, FDA-classified Class I medical device that addresses these critical needs, offering healthcare providers a practical tool for enhancing patient outcomes and reducing costly complications.

If you’re looking at information related to heart surgery and recovery, chances are you’ve heard about heart pillows (also known as chest or cough pillows). These are commonly handed out to heart surgery patients, but it’s not often discussed whether these are actually helpful for recovery.

Heart pillows are meant to give patients something to hold to their chest when they need to cough or sneeze or to try and help alleviate some pain.

So the question is: are heart pillows truly a good addition to surgery recovery plans?

After surgery, pain management becomes a priority, and prescription medications like opioids are typically the first line of defense. For many, the idea of using opioids is concerning -- after all, we constantly hear all the terrible stories about the opioid crisis. While some medication is necessary in most cases, there are several other alternatives for pain management. Always talk to your doctor about your plans for pain management. Here are some of the best options to consider.

Support Harness for Pain Management After Heart Surgery

Heart Hugger is a sternal harness that lets patients heal from heart surgery. It offers wound stability and sternal support in addition to on-demand pain management during recovery at home. The Heart Hugger can help reduce complications and reliance on pain medication.

As a recovery nurse, you know that reassurance is just as important as the medical care you give your patients following surgery. They've trusted medical professionals to get them through surgery, but they know that for many of the long days and weeks that follow, they'll be at home navigating the recovery process.

For many heart surgery patients, the Heart Hugger Sternum Support Harness helps them better manage their pain during recovery. And because Heart Hugger lets patients decide when to apply pressure, they feel more in control of their pain and the entire healing process.

Pain management is an important part of any surgery recovery, but heart surgery has some additional factors that complicate things a bit. To start with, the idea of heart surgery is very scary, so patients have to deal with additional worries leading up the surgery. Post-op, patients have to contend with caring for their incision while doing ordinary things like breathe, cough, and sneeze. 

Pain relief for heart surgery recovery requires more than whatever your doctor prescribes. It's crucial that patients understand that recovering well takes some well-thought-out planning for daily activities. Let's take a look at how you can conceive of pain management after heart surgery. 

Pain becomes a stark reality with those who’ve just gone through surgery, especially after going through cardiac and thoracic surgery.  Pain medication provides some relief, but not enough. Those unexpected sneezing fits can catch us by surprise and simple movements that we make throughout our everyday lives can prove to be a hindrance. Who knew that making the bed could hurt so badly? Or a simple act of sitting down on the couch could cause so much pain? This is hardly unexpected after one goes through major heart surgery.

This is where Heart Hugger comes into play. With the help of Heart Hugger, a patient’s pain can be reduced in many ways.

Below are just three ways of how Heart Hugger can help reduce the pain:

The difficulties of managing pain after surgery can be a stark reality, especially after undergoing cardiac and thoracic surgery. Suddenly, simple tasks turn into painful endeavors. Who knew that making the bed could hurt so badly? We often end up resorting to minimizing our movements to keep from feeling all of those aches and pains.

But why limit your mobility when you don’t have to? With a Heart Hugger, you can get back to doing those everyday tasks without being punished with pain.