Suppliments to aid healing

[D24]

Hi, well i went for my pre-op assessment today and all went well. My operation is this Thursday. I was wondering if there is anything i can take to aid healing. I eat a high protein diet including protein drinks but is there anything that would help me that anyone knows of?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[creative]

Hi,

I was looking for pretty much the same advice! I think looking under the 'Surgery Preparation' section might be worth a shot. I also recall reading that a multivitamin should be taken 2-3 weeks before surgery and then continued after, especially vit c to aid recovery.

Not much else i can personally think of? Maybe L-Glutamine... now if only they had a way to prevent scarring!! 

[split66]

Got my op next week, I've been told to use arnica to aid healing and reduce bruising.

[D24]

For anyone Reading this post after 1 week post op I can report that arnica and a multi vitamin suppliment along with protein drinks has worked wonders for me,I used only anti inflamitory given by the hospital for the first 3 days and they did nothing except give me stomach cramps and a rash on my neck.switched to 'my' way of doin it 3 days ago and every day there's a massive improvement in brusing,discomfort and general feeling. I checked with doc that it was ok to do it my way first and she was all for it. Also kept tomy high protein diet in terms of meals as well as protein drinks.

[creative]

Hi,

Thanks for updating! Where did you get arnica from? Somewhere like Holland & Barrett? Better start preparing this stuff now...

Incidentally, i saw on a US website that they're developing a cream to reduce scaring. I'm not sure whether its another gimmick or something that might actually work! From what i've read, scar tissue forms because it is the body's natural response to healing as fast as it can. The skin produced is of lower quality than other skin on your body so its basically sacrificing quality for speed. I think this new innovation does something to prevent this and grow normal skin..

EDIT: Did you take pills or use cream form?

[D24]

Hi creative, hmm after a lot of reading up i also found that it's the body's natural response so not sure about that one. But as for arnica; i purchased it from Boots in pill form but you can also get it from Holland and Barrett. It was only around £3.00 i took the reccomended dose, kind of a loading phase if you like and caryy on usinf for upto five days but. I'd actually read a BBC report claiming that there a study was done with no proof that arnica works but from what iv'e read a lot of people on this site use it. It may be the multi vitamins, protein drinks, high protein diet or all three but it works. 

[creative]

Hi D24,

Thanks for getting back to the thread so quickly. I read one of the first links on Google about arnica and the feedback was very positive. They conducted a proper test with rugby players who bruise quite a lot and those using arnica had noticeable improvements over those that did not. I think that's enough for me! Better to have it and have no effect than not have it - and anything you can do to help has to be good, right?

I've got some of the old protein powder which i use for the gym so think i might follow a routine similar to yours. From what you said about tissue damage it makes absolute sense - we go to the gym to tear tissue and use protein to rebuild, so i can't see why extra protein won't help repairing after gyno surgery.

Thanks again. Oh and did you have it on the NHS? 

[D24]

My thoughts exactly about the protein repairing tissue. Seriously when i switched to doing it my way i could feel a massive improvement every day as soon as i woke up.  Yeah it was on the NHS, best bit is before surgery i asked the surgeon if there's anything that will speed me recovery/healing to which he simply replied...no. I think the best thing is to trust your instincts, knowbody knows your body like you do. But thinking about it unless your into bodybuilding/fittness a non-gym person would probs not know about the effects of protein and vitamins. Also i think the RDA for protein is about 45 grams or something which is not comparable to the 200 grams or so a day i take in so the doc/surgeon wouldn't advise you exceed the RDA.

[thetodd]

pineapple will reduce swelling, i wouldnt reccomend having protein shakes if your chilling in bed all day after surgery.

Pineapple, arnica and .... rest

will heal you without a doubt

[wannabemassive]

There is a product called dermatrix that you can purchase from Boots think it is about ehh goggle £30 which has got good reviews for scar reduction.

Wannabemassive

TRAIN HARD LIVE LONG

[kingboob]

Most of these magic potions do nothing but make your wallet lighter......... if something seems too good to be true then think about it; if it really worked then doctors would be recommending & prescribing it.