Making the Best of Surgery
Everyone at some point in their lives will face surgery. Some surgeries are planned, some are sudden, some are simple, some are complicated. Everyone tends to focus on their choice of surgeon as the most important factor about your surgical success, but I’m here to tell you that it is your body health, your inner environment that is the most important consideration.
The truth is that surgery is out of our hands. Sometimes you have time to prepare yourself both emotionally and physically, but more often you really don’t and just want to get it over with… so how can you make any surgery the best possible surgery? Here are my tried and true tips to help you through surgery and recovery.
Pre-Surgery Preparation
When preparing for surgery, cleansing is a great option. This should include your intestinal tract, liver and kidneys. You can do even a short few days and get great results. Try this formula:
MediHerb Livco - 2 just before breakfast and dinner.
Standard Process SP Cleanse - 7 capsules 3 times a day between meals.
MediHerb Milk Thistle Forte - 2 just before breakfast and dinner.
Desbio ToxAffix - 3 first thing in the morning, mid-afternoon and before bed.
Eat lots of cruciferous vegetables, drink at least 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water per day, avoid all meats/flesh, caffeine, sugar/starch, fruit/fruit juice (fructose).
Supplements are also important before surgery. I often recommend the following herbs/supplements for 3-4 weeks prior to surgery to fully prepare the body. These can include a number of things that are general support, but also you can include specific formulas that are unique to you.
General Recommendations
Physica Pre & Post Surgery homeopathic - 2 droppers 6 times a day for the 3-5 days before surgery provides both emotional and physical preparation of tissues and organs for surgery.
MediHerb Echinacea Premium - 2 tablets 2-3 times daily before or away from meals is the clinically proven Echinacea blend that helps to modulate your immune system which is the first step in preventing autoimmune conditions.
MediHerb Milk Thistle Forte - 1 just before breakfast, lunch and dinner for surgery up to 2 hours in length. 2 just before breakfast and dinner for surgery that is longer than 2 hours in length. This is the best protection against negative effects of anesthesia and to protect the liver against toxins and negative drug effects.
Standard Process Cataplex AC - 2 with breakfast and dinner. This is a great anti-infective that also normalizes mucous production and fluid drainage. This can help to reduce the tendency to edema with surgery.
Chlorophyll Complex - 2 with breakfast and dinner. This helps to reduce bleeding tendency and can help to stem internal hemmorhage making it possible to require less blood during surgery.
Specific Recommendations
Glucosamine Synergy - this is a great support for any joint surgery.
Standard Process Collagen C - this helps to support connective tissue for quick recovery.
MediHerb high grade St. John’s Wort - this is a nerve tonic and helps to not only reduce the possibility of numbness or nerve-related symptoms, but it also helps to minimize surgical trauma.
MediHerb Vitanox - if you are a smoker, drug user or are exposed to toxins on a regular basis, then loading up on antioxidants like this high grade formula can help to reduce oxidative stress that is a common cause of poor healing and surgical trauma.
MediHerb Gotu Kola Complex - this helps to reduce the tendency for scar tissue formation, cystic clotting and fluid congestion.
Contraindications of Supplementation
Every surgery requires that you stop all unnecessary medications/supplements ahead of your surgery. Depending on the surgery this can vary from 48 hours to 1 week before surgery. Clinical research has shown that all herbs are safe before surgery, however two things have a slight risk of complicating your surgical experience. These are Ginger and Garlic. Garlic has been linked to possible adverse bleeding events after surgery and ginger can cause the same problem if given in high doses. Because of this, these two herbs should be stopped at least two weeks prior to any surgery.
All other herbs including Ginkgo, St. John’s Wort, even chamomile have definitely been shown not to cause any negative effects when taken before surgery, despite frequent incorrect assertions that some have anticoagulant activity.
Therapy Before Surgery
Decongestive Lymphatic Therapy is probably the very best therapy for preparing for surgery. This dramatic and effective therapy can enhance drainage of key body fluids, minimize edema and help to cleanse tissues prior to the surgical experience. This is an essential way to boost immunity and help tissues to have every possible element needed for immediate healing response.
Acupuncture can really help with both relaxing and calming your nervous system (after all who’s nervous with surgery??) and by supporting, stabilizing and clearing the energy of your meridians which power your organs and control your healing energy. Even Reflexology is a great idea before surgery to really bring the body’s attention to every organ through the meridian points in the feet.
Post-Surgery Healing
I don’t need to tell you that after surgery, your focus is on promoting healing. This means that REST is the best medicine. Don’t run back to work, step back into your daily stressors, bing-watch The Crown or feel obliged to chat with the fifty people that want to come and check in on you. Instead, realize that it is only during sleep that your best healing will take place.
Supplement Protocol Post-Surgery
I have a standard protocol that I provide post-surgery, regardless of the type of surgery. I usually recommend this for 6 weeks to 3 months post-surgery depending on the amount of healing that needs to take place:
Physica Pre & Post Surgery Milieu - this is the best homeopathic for all aspects of the healing process.
MediHerb Gotu Kola Complex - there is nothing better for managing scar tissue.
MediHerb Milk Thistle Forte - this powerful herbal extract helps to clear anesthesia from the body, support the liver’s work and minimizes allergic reactions.
Eleuthero - there is nothing better for recovering your energy after surgery.
Dermatrophin PMG - regardless of the type of surgery, this formula is to aid repair and minimize scarring of skin and epithelial tissue such as the lungs, digestive tract, mouth.
Standard Process Catalyn - this whole food formula has been created since 1923 and is still the best way to give the body everything it needs nutritionally every single day of your healing process.
Diet
Do not eat junk food, sugar, starch, caffeine or heavy foods like red meat. Instead load up on nourishing soups, broths, stews and vegetables in all their colorful forms. Fruit can be helpful during this period to give you great antioxidants. Garlic and ginger are still to be avoided during this time so that proper blood healing can take place.
To Minimize Swelling & Support Revascularisation
Standard Process Thymex, MediHerb Ginkgo Biloba, Standard Process Cyruta-Plus, grapeseed extract and Physica Drainage Milieu will all help to mobilize lymph and reduce the loss of fluid from capillary beds. Not only can these support connective tissue and proper scar tissue formation but they also improve venous tone and function which can help to reduce the risk of post-surgical DVT (deep vein thrombosis).
Decongestive Lymphatic Therapy is just as great after surgery as before because it can help assist in the movement of fluids. The direct area of surgery should be avoided for a few weeks until complete clotting and healing have taken place, but the rest of the body can truly benefit from the mobilization of fluid to remind the body of its normal fluid pathways.
Immune Support
Your immune system is doing all the work during this time, so supporting that is key. A blend of Echinacea Angustifolia and Purpurea is the best for supporting, promoting and modulating immune system activity in the healing process. Standard Process also has provided some great formulas to support every aspect of the immune system from tonsils to spleen such as Immuplex and Epimune Complex. I also strongly recommend Zinc and whole food Vitamin C after surgery to boost not just your immune capability, but the immunity of the gut as well.
It is also vitally important to remove burdens to the immune system by reducing the toxic load after surgery. Burdock and Cleavers are two great herbs for this, along with some liver cleansing once post-surgical drugs are completed.
Preventing infection is another important consideration after surgery. Bacterial infections such as Cellulitis, Staph and Strep are common occurances for many after surgery, so Goldenseal, Physica Bacteria-Tox, Standard Process Thymex or Congaplex can all help to reduce the possibility or the spread of bacterial infection. I even advocate Kangen ionized water on 2.5 or 11.0 to help with topical cleansing of open wounds and areas where bacterial issues may be brewing.
Scar Tissue Management
Gotu Kola is by far the very best herb for managing scar tissue. It helps to promote closure of wounds, increases connective tissue strength and improves microcirculation. This has even been clinically shown to promote rapid healing in cases of leprosy.
Another important consideration is the use of protomorphagens. Providing a PMG formula for each tissue that has been the focus of the surgery can make an enormous difference in both scar tissue management as well as immune interaction with the target tissues. Standard Process has a PMG formula for every tissue from bone to nerve to muscle to glands.
Bowel Regulation
After surgery many patients experience constipation, diarrhea or changes in their bowel function. Having Colonic Hydrotherapy shortly after surgery can really help to not only re-regulate the bowels, but it can also help to speed the removal of toxins from the body.
Dietary fiber is important after surgery which is why in the dietary guidelines I mention lots of fresh vegetables. But clearing anesthesia and drug residue is important as well, so adding a supplemental powdered fiber such as Slippery Elm Powder, Psyllium Husk or apple pectin can protect the gut and the body tissues from the effects of residues while promoting regular bowel motility.
Wound Care
Wound closure and healing are important and I recommend Chlorophyll Complex Ointment . Putting this directly on any open wound will cleanse it, promote antioxidant activity and help to stem bleeding. I also use the Kangen Ionized Water again on 2.5 or 11.0 to help prevent infection and keep the wound clean. Medical grade honey is another great way to seal wounds without interrupting the healing process.
Pain Management
There are some great herbs to help with pain that won’t interfere with pharmacological pain medications and will often reduce the need for pain meds post-surgically. Devil’s Claw is a great option, particularly for bone, joint pain. Boswellia is the best herb to both reduce swelling and inflammation of both internal tissues and muscle tissue. I prefer these options to aspirin (which can thin the blood) and also to cannabis and its derivatives as their effects on the post-surgical healing process are relatively unknown at this point.
