Having surgery can be quite difficult on both your mental and physical health. Everyone often prioritises their physical recovery, which of course is very important, but that doesn’t mean you should forget about your mental health. We are here to introduce a few ways to protect your mental health and put yourself first, whether you’ve had a facelift Manchester based or knee replacement surgery in London.
Practice Meditation
The first thing you can do to protect your mental health after surgery is to practice meditation. When you meditate, the body produces a relaxation response to reduce stress related inflammation and to improve insulin resistance. This then helps the body to fight infection. Aside from the physical benefits, meditation allows you to completely unwind, reduce stress, reduce your negative emotions and become more patient.
If you are looking for something that will make you feel great post-surgery, give meditation a go. There are so many great guided meditation programmes out there, ranging from a couple of minutes long to up to an hour long. Start with the smaller ones and you can build up from there. Even if you’re completely new to meditation, the guided programmes are so easy to follow and are suitable no matter if you have any experience or not!
Get The Rest You Need
Next up, you need to make sure that you are giving your body the rest you need. Not only does your body do the majority of its healing when you are asleep, but it is also really important for your mental health. Being in pain and having to be quite still whilst recovering can be difficult, so sleeping gives your brain the time it needs to switch off so you wake up feeling refreshed. When you have a good night’s sleep, you will feel so much better for it, and it will help you to achieve our next tip, being more active!
Be As Active As You Can
Our next tip is that you should be as active as you can whilst still following the advice of your surgeon. When you are able to get some fresh air and have a little walk, it can completely change your mindset. Don’t push yourself too far, but do as much as you can to aid both your physical recovery and to help you look after your mental health. Even if you can only manage a few steps to begin with, you can gradually build up until you are feeling stronger and more confident.
Be Patient With Yourself
The best tip we can give you to help you recover and protect your mental health is to be patient with yourself. Your body will have been through trauma, which takes time to heal from. It might be tempting to look for quick fixes to help recovery, but the truth is you need to be patient. Keep telling yourself that this is temporary, and the easier you take it, the better your recovery will be. Your meditation and staying active will really help with this.
In all areas of life, often our mental health gets pushed to the back of the priority list. So, this is the perfect time to make it a priority and make a few healthy habits that could stick around once you are fully recovered. We wish you all the best with your surgery and make sure that you remember to look after yourself!
