Prior to scheduling surgery you will meet with one of our surgeons for an evaluation where they will evaluate your complaint, possibly take x-rays, and discuss surgical and nonsurgical options and together you will make a plan for how best to treat your complaint. If you choose to have a surgical procedure, there are some things that you need to know to be ready:
MEDICAL CLEARANCE: Before surgery, you will be given instructions to follow up with your primary doctor to obtain a full exam for clearance for surgery. They may have certain labs or tests which they would like you to get prior to the surgery to make sure you don’t have any complications during or after the surgery.
TOBACCO: Tobacco and other nicotine products are known to slow down or stop the healing process and can put you at increased risk for infection or other complications during and following surgery. For this reason we will not perform elective surgical procedures on anyone who is currently using tobacco products. If you are doing so, you will be required to stop smoking a minimum of two weeks prior to surgery and will need to avoid the use of these products till you are healed.
AFTER SURGERY: Following surgery, we would like you to follow up with us within 3-5 days to evaluate the area and help with any post-operative questions or concerns.
Avoiding pain after surgery: One of the worst times for most people is the first two weeks after surgery. Surgery is trauma, and with that comes pain. Here are some important tips to follow to help prevent unnecessary pain after surgery:
1.) Elevate your foot. After surgery, the area where you had the procedure will then start to swell. This is a normal response, but will cause significant pain. The best ways to prevent swelling in your foot are to elevate your foot as much and as often as possible.
2.) Take your pain medications regularly. While many of us don’t like the thought of taking too many pills, it is important, especially for the first week, to be consistent about taking your pain medications. While pain is under control, it is easy to keep it that way, but once you have let things slide too far, it can take days to bring pain levels back to a manageable level.
3.) Ice. using ice also helps to keep down swelling and to manage pain. use ice for no more than 20 minutes at a time, once every hour.
4.) Stay off of your foot. This may sound like common sense, but the more you put pressure on your foot, the more you jar it and bump it, the more it gets irritated and painful.
Washing: After surgery you will be given a dressing to protect your open surgical site from infection. DO NOT get this wet. If it does get wet, please come in to get the dressing changed. The best way to still shower following surgery is to use a cast protector such as this SHOWER BOOT You can usually find one of these at your local pharmacy.
OTHER INFORMATION
Currently, with the COVID-19 situation there are extra precautions which are required by the hospital. Please refer to the sheet below for guidelines for surgery at Brooks Hospital.
