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Consider Acupuncture As You Recover From A Surgical Procedure

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After you've gone through a surgical procedure, you can expect that your primary care doctor will outline the various elements that you'll need to fully recover. For example, you might need to attend physical therapy sessions one or more times per week, as well as learn how you change your dressings and even give yourself injections. While it's vitally important that you carefully follow these steps, you might wish to also seek complementary forms of care, provided that your doctor agrees. One type of care to consider is acupuncture, which can be useful after surgery for several reasons.

Pain Reduction

One of the challenges of going through surgery is that you're left nursing pain afterward. The type of pain and its severity depends on the procedure, but pain is common enough that you'll usually have prescriptions for pain medication to take in the days and/or weeks after your surgery. Acupuncture is valuable because it can be a reliable form of pain relief. While regular acupuncture sessions may not mean that you can disregard your intake of pain medication entirely, they may allow you to cut down on your dosage on the frequency with which you take the medication.

Stress Relief

Many patients rely on acupuncture as a valuable form of therapy for reducing their stress. While most people can afford to cut down on their stress to some degree, this is especially useful for those who have been through surgery. There's little debate that surgery is stressful — there's a lot of anxiety leading up to the procedure, and you've often been stressed because of your pain beforehand, too. The stress doesn't melt away after the procedure, as you may be feeling anxious about how well you recover or how quickly you'll feel like your old self again.

Easier Movement

Those whose bodies are stiff and sore can often get significant relief through acupuncture. After surgery, it's common to experience soreness and a limited range of motion, although the exact degree to which you experience these issues depends on the scope of the surgery. Physical therapy and an exercise regimen that you must follow at home can all help to make movements easier for you, and acupuncture can also support you in this endeavor. By reducing restrictions in your body, this ancient practice has the potential to cut down on your recovery time significantly. If you've just been through surgery, contact a local acupuncturist, such as at Acupuncture is My Life, to set up an appointment.


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