Having surgery can be a very frightening prospect. Aside from the actual surgery the aftermath can be pretty frustrating too. You may have a painful incision site, the extra task of dealing with special bandages, keeping the area dry and more. This can turn out to be a very frustrating ordeal.
After a surgery the fear of infection is always present and can be very stressful. Knowing what you need to look for in order to avoid this will reduce you post-surgery stress and prevent a life altering terrible experience.
Infection: This is what people fear the most. Infections that occur after surgeries happen at the rate of five hundred thousand per year out of twenty-seven million. These after surgery infections can either be at the place of the incision itself or even in your blood. When you have an infection in your blood you will feel malaise; tired, down and feeling like there has got to be something wrong.
Fever will most likely occur with each type of infection. If the would itself is infected however you will feel one, a few, or all of the following signs. The area will feel hot, it will swell, fluid such as pus will begin to drain from the incision, it will turn red and most likely pain is going to develop and it will hurt more as time goes on.
If you find yourself having any of these signs you must immediately go to your doctor’s office, the emergency room or an urgent care facility to be treated.
Hemorrhage: A slight bit of bleeding after surgery is normal in most cases. If you bandage becomes very bloody and appears to be dripping with blood however, you may be dealing with a hemorrhage.
If this is the case you need to see your doctor or get to the emergency room immediately. If you don’t do this chances are good that you could bleed to death. It is very important that on the way to the emergency room you apply constant pressure to the wound to slow the bleeding.
Blood Clots: You may have a clot in you leg if you start to experience a pain that isn’t normal. Clots that you get after surgeries can lead to strokes, heart attacks, and pulmonary embolism. Each of these three is life threatening situations. You must immediately see your doctor.
Nerve Complications: When you have a surgical procedure performed on a limb, you could develop nerve complications. These arise by swelling or a clot that is on the nerve. This is not an emergency situation but it is necessary that you see your doctor for treatment.
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