Re: ICE after surgery

In Reply to: Re: ICE after surgery posted by Evelyn on November 21, 2003 at 23:22:08:

: : Hi! I am the one preparing for the surgery 12/3. I don't know if it is endo or open. Which is less painful and fastest to recover from?

: : Many of you have said to ice after surgery. This is probably a stupid question but the doctor said I will have a huge bandage on my arm. How would I ice it?

: : Thanks to all who have replied.

: Hi LP
: I often wondered about this ice thing too. I had a huge 'pressure bandage' on my hand after surgery (to prevent bruising) for 5 days. It had to remain there untouched & completely dry because if you get your dressing wet, that's when infection can get in. At the time I never heard of using ice at any time for cts & no doctor has ever mentioned it to me.

: I had the open type of release. The scar was just over an inch long & the 3 stitches were to remain there for 2 weeks. I had a friend remove them (psychiatric nurse lol) about 2 days before the 2 wks were up as they were so damn tight. I was none the worse for the inexperience of my friend & his craft knife lol.

: Evelyn

I guess it depends on the surgeon or hospital. When I woke up I had ice packs wrapped all the way around my bandages. But my bandages were so thick that I only felt the coolness of the the ice packs. Now when showering, a bathroom trashbag was taped very securely around the bandage not to get the incision wet. After the stitches were taken out, they put butterfly band-aids over the incision, then I lived with that ice pack. I still use it a lot of the time. It sure helps with the swelling and when swelling goes down, so does the pain. Melani