Preparing for Joint Replacement Surgery: A Step-by-Step Guide
Things to Do Before Joint Replacement Surgery
If you are thinking about having joint replacement surgery, here are few things you can do to make your recovery easier. 1.) Quit Smoking and Other Nicotine Products: Smoking has a serious negative effect on bones, muscles, and joints. Those who smoke have a much higher rate of post-surgical complications, like delayed wound healing due to lack of oxygen in the blood and increased risk of infection. 2.) Normal or near normal BMI Body mass index (BMI) is a measurement of your height-to-weight ratio. Having appropriate BMI increases the lifetime of your new joint. 3.) Diabetes can increase your risk of complications like infections, poor wound healing, and slow recovery time so try to keep your sugar levels normal or near normal before surgery 4.) Exercises Patients with arthritis have weak quadriceps muscles.This weakness may interfere with recovery, so it is important to be as fit as possible before a joint replacement surgery. 5.) Healthy Diet To prepare for surgery, heal better after surgery, and fight infection. Make sure to eat a variety of nutritious foods each day. A balanced diet includes meat or protein-rich foods, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. - Protein can help you heal. Good sources are cottage cheese, fish, meat, poultry, eggs, tofu, nuts and nut butters, seeds, and beans. - Whole grains give you nutrients that are beneficial for overall health. Try incorporating whole-wheat flour, bulgur (cracked wheat), oatmeal, and brown rice into meals. - Fruits and vegetables will give you vitamins and minerals needed to heal. Examples include oranges, strawberries, grapefruit, cantaloupes, tangerines, red and green bell peppers, broccoli, potatoes, tomatoes, and cabbage. - Dairy products build and maintain strong bones. Dairy foods include milk, cheese, yogurt, and fortified soy 6.) Dental procedures After a joint replacement surgery, you will need to wait three months before you can have any dental work or cleaning. If you can, schedule your dentist appointments prior to surgery. All dental issues must be taken care of before your procedure. If you do need dental work after surgery, you will need to take antibiotics to help prevent an infection in your joint. You can contact your orthopedic surgeon regarding an antibiotic.
Get Your Home Ready
Having your house ready ahead of surgery can help you focus on recovery after you leave the hospital. Prepare your home by: - Picking up throw rugs and tacking down loose carpeting. - Installing night lights in bathrooms, bedrooms, and hallways - Installing a railing along a staircase. - Prepare your bathroom with bath seat, grip bar, or raised toilet seat.
