Natural Remedies for Pre and Post-Op Recovery: Speed Healing

I rubbed castor oil (put some in my fingers) and rubbed it on each place that hurt. In a few days, the pain was gone and hasn't returned.

Also it works good on brown recluse spider bites.

Start by taking a chlorophyll supplement orally. Gillette Odor Shield soap soap does wonders. It says Mens, but I'm a female, works great for me! Then I have a trick.

I buy the less expensive witch hazel at Wal-Mart, but it doesn't matter which bottle of witch hazel you use. I get the size bottle of a standard size bottle, I think it's 16oz, but not positive on size.

Take 1 bottle of witch hazel and separate it in half. (Put half in a different bottle) In one bottle add 2 or 3 drops of peppermint oil, 2 or 3 drops of tea tree oil, & two or 3 drops of lemongrass oil. Shake that up and use that when you move your bowels and wipe. It also will help you avoid or clear up hemorrhoids if you get them.

In the 2nd bottle add about 4 or 5 drops of peppermint oil, 4 or 5 drops of tea tree oil, 5 or 6 drops of lemon grass oil, and 4 or 5 drops of grapefruit oil. Then add 2 or 3 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol, I like to use the green kind with the minty smell. You can also add lemon juice (2 or 3 tablespoons if you need it a little stronger). After you shower (or if you need a quick freshen up with out bathing) make sure your body is completely dried off. Put some of the tincture mixture on a towel or wash cloth. Blot arm bits and other problem areas that sweat too much. (I wouldn't recommend that on privates, too strong, use 1st mixture on that area if you need.) Then blot dry any left over moisture from the product. Use your antiperspirant/deodorant after application. If you need to make deodorant mix same amounts, except 1 teaspoon rubbing alcohol, 2 teaspoons of witch hazel with 4 or 5 tablespoons of melted coconut oil. Put a plastic sandwich bag in a toilet paper roll. Poor mix into your toilet paper roll and put in freezer or fridge to harden. Store in a cool area. It works great for a natural antiperspirant and a deodorant.

1 more option for a quick hair cleanup is make above mix for the armpit towel blotting, but omit the rubbing alcohol. You can dump it on your scalp and brush it through your hair. It will help with itchy scalp and give your hair a quick temporary clean feel...

I hope this information comes in handy for someone! I live by it!

The last time I had surgery, I tried a number of natural things to maximize my recovery and healing. I wrote them up but never got around to posting them. I will do so now… For the record, I had laparoscopic abdominal surgery as I had a hydatid cyst of morgagni, which had caused a torsion in the fallopian tube. (Causing a lot of pain.)

First of all, before surgery (I only had two days advanced notice of surgery…two weeks preparation might have been better, but with an emergency you get no prep time at all! ) I ate lightly the day before. Yes, I was allowed to eat up until midnight the night before, but I made sure the whole day was just light eating. Plenty of fresh fruit, juices and a little protein. I didn't want my digestive system all full and having to deal with digesting when it needed to focus on recovering. I also made sure I had on hand the things I would want in the house when I got home from surgery.

After my surgery, when I was in my room waiting to be discharged (same day surgery) I could taste the chemicals in my mouth. (The anesthesia, I guess.) I have had many surgeries and never noticed this. I think I am just hypersensitive to it now. So, my mouth was confirming that I would be needing to detox from some drugs as soon as possible.

Once at home, my plan was to continue light eating for several days. My son juiced me a pint of organic carrot juice every day for my breakfast. I avoided processed food and processed sugar. I drank apple cider also (to help keep the system moving, especially important since pain medications tend to slow the system down) and herbal tea. Here is my recipe for “Post-Op Herbal Tea”

3 T. peppermint leaf

3 T. comfrey leaf

3 T. plantain leaf

Put (dry) tea leaves in a half gallon jar. Pour boiling water over. Steep 30 minutes. Strain herbs and sweeten with honey or Stevia as desired. (I use Stevia extract.) This makes ? gallon, enough for 2 days. My ideal was to drink 1 quart of this tea per day for a week following surgery. (Longer would be great, too.) Here is the rationale. The peppermint is mostly for flavor, but peppermint is also good for gas. After surgery you can end up with lots of trapped air all throughout your abdomen (often moving to the shoulder and causing terrible pain). I did still have the gas pains, so it didn't do quite what I hoped, but it still made my tea taste better. The comfrey is for cell regeneration. The plantain is to help with any possible urinary tract infection from having had a catheter during surgery.

I tried to eat lightly and then focus on eating highly nutritious foods that are easy to digest. Fruits, fresh juices, vegetables. I was eating some eggs for protein.

I was really happy that I wasn't given a prescription for an anti-bitoic, which is often done following surgery. I was thinking I would not get it filled and just use charcoal and colloidal silver, not at the same time. I was hoping to avoid using the narcotic pain medication, but have learned that the body does not heal well when it is in terrible pain. So, I took the pain medication, wishing that herbal narcotics were not illegal, as I think that would be a safer option. I got off of them as soon as I could rest comfortably without them. They seemed to give me a headache.

It is important to get up some, as allowed and able, to keep the gas trapped in the body moving. So I did get up and walk around some. If I had taken an antibiotic, or were dealing with a child after surgery on an antibiotic, I would give them a probiotic daily, or water kefir, or something.

I tried to take 1 charcoal drink a day, not near time of medicine. 1 heaping teaspoon of charcoal in a glass of water. I tried to do this for a month to help my body detox from the medicine and anesthesia. I felt “off” for a couple of weeks, I think due to the anesthesia.

If you can find a good quality confrey salve to use on the scar, that would be great for helping it to heal. Comfrey taken internally has been known to help heal even old scars. Your daughter can take the post-op tea long term for this. Just look for a good quality source for bulk herbs and it won't be very expensive to use regularly. My favorite source is Mountain Rose Herbs.

Let us know how it goes for your daughter!

~Mama to Many~

We'd like to start early on her recovery so would like some advice on diet and supplemental nutrition in the lead up to surgery and afterwards if you could please, especially in regards to pain management and scar repair. Her last zipper scar is only just fading so she's a tad annoyed that she has to start all over again, lol.

She has no allergies or reactions to anything that we are aware of. She is currently drinking 150ml of morinda juice (we all do).

Thanks for any and all advice you can think of.

If this were me, I'd try the Lester Rolloff detox method. Reverend Rolloff had his Girls Home in Texas and often the girls would come to his home with addictions.

He'd put them on a three day "Watermelon Fast"...three days of red ripe watermelon. Nothing else.

Since you live in Texas, you might have year round access to watermelon. Try Mexican Markets. A lot of fresh produce comes from across the border.

I know it's related to the drugs and am trying to detox. Has anyone else had this problem, and if so how did they deal with it? Using deoderants etc., is a band aid.

What would people recommend for a good protocol to prepare for surgery. I know I should not eat garlic or beetroot pre surgery (increased risk of bleeding). Anything else I should avoid?

I am thinking about collodial silver, vitamin C, arnica...

Any thoughts please.... which are always appreciated.

xCarole

Your body is a self-healing machine, it knows how to repair itself. With the proper nutrition, rest, exercise, and circulation, you can get yourself back on track faster.

- Physical exercise/rehabilitation: After your surgery, WALK, WALK, WALK (as long as your doctor says it's ok)! Bring a nurse or friend with you in case you need assistance. I know it's SO painful, but when you are bedridden, your digestive system basically slows down or stops. It won't start moving again until you start walking around. You need to get your circulation and your digestive system going again quickly. It will help decrease the inflammation, help get your blood flowing and also help prevent you from getting blood clots in your legs. Don't go back to your "normal" exercise routine until your doctor says it's ok.

Another serious problem from surgeries are adhesions (when your scar tissue adheres to an adjacent organ or tissue, causing pain or other complications, some of them quite serious). Because I had surgery to the intestines, I was afraid of adhesions causing bowel obstruction. While I don't know if this helped or not, I made sure to walk EVERYDAY as much as I felt comfortable doing, slowly increasing the amount every day, to make sure my bowels, circulation, and everything else kept moving.

If you are instructed to do any kind of physical therapy (PT) to get your range of motion back, DO IT! Otherwise, you could permanently lose range of motion in the affected area.

If you had abdominal/laparoscopic surgery like I did, you know that the gas that they put into your abdominal area from surgery can cause serious gas pains that radiate up to your shoulder (sometimes more painful than the surgery itself! ). Another reason that you need to WALK - walking helps the gas get out faster.

- Follow your doctor's instructions: A common sense warning, but most people don't follow it. Support your injured area when doing any kind of movements that cause strain. For abdominal surgery patients, laying down and sitting up can be very painful. Roll onto your side and prop yourself up with your arms to avoid strain on the abdominal muscles. Also, support your abdominal area with your hands or a pillow if you laugh, cough, or sneeze.

- Don't be afraid to ask for help! :Don't be shy to ask your nurse to help you get to the bathroom, to help you put your clothes on, or for any help you might need. You might feel uncomfortable having a stranger help you with things that seem very intimate, but believe me, they have seen much worse! Simple tasks like going to the bathroom or taking a shower are going to be very painful and difficult for a few days after your surgery. Your body will be in a very delicate state. Forcing yourself to do something you are not ready to do might tear and pull at your wounds, complicating your healing even more.

Also, if you have any questions about the post-healing process, don't be afraid to call your doctor or surgeon. Don't skip any post-op appointments. Some post-operative complications are quite serious, so if you develop a fever, unusual swelling, redness/rash, or have a lot of oozing from your incisions, call right away.

- Don't be a martyr: Take your prescribed pain medication. Your body actually heals SLOWER when you are in pain. If you use adequate pain control, you will heal faster. If the pain medication makes you nauseous, have your doctor prescribe anti-nausea medication or eat fresh or candied ginger or ginger ale. Also, take a stool softener (like Miralax) as a precaution, because opiate pain medications like morphine, hydrocodone and oxycodone are known to cause very severe constipation (this might be even further complicated if you are not walking around).

- Try to maintain a good attitude:I know that's harder than it sounds when you're in pain. But having friends and family there for support, or even joking around with the nurses makes you feel better. Look on the bright side, your surgery is over, it went well, and soon you'll be on the mend! A positive attitude helps you heal faster, too.

- Self-hypnosis and meditation for healing and pain relief:If you have an iPhone, download Andrew Johnson's "Healing" self-hypnosis app, which is a guided self-hypnosis that focuses on self-healing. Hypnosis and meditation are also good distractors from pain.

- Eat healthy: yeah, I know, that's kind of hard in a hospital with all the processed junk food. Have a friend or family member bring you something rich in fruits and vegetables like a leafy salad so you can get healthy doses of Vitamin A and C (both known to speed healing). When you are home, eat as many fruits and veggies as possible until you are fully healed. Your body will really need it more than ever. Avoid processed fats (yep, no junk food), which interfere with healthy cell construction.

- Get lots of rest: After surgery, you are going to feel a lot sleepier than normal. That's completely normal. Your body is trying to repair itself. For about a week or two after surgery I had to take a nap or two everyday - and some of my "naps" would be 4 hours long! Don't limit your sleep - your body will tell you how much it needs. Give yourself as much time off from work as possible to recover.

- Get some sun! : Sunlight accelerates wound healing quite dramatically, probably by producing vitamin D in the skin. Patients who are exposed to sunlight heal far faster than those who are not. Try to take some walks outdoors with a friend or nurse.

Supplements:

- Zinc: Best taken prior to surgery, zinc reduces wound healing time, rapidly reduces wound size, and bolsters immunity to help ward off infection. Topical zinc, such as calamine lotion, also inhibits bacteria growth on the surface of skin, helping to prevent infection (diaper rash creams? Yes, those are zinc creams. I also recommend Avene's Cicalfate cream, another good zinc-based cream that I apply everyday after strong chemical peels). As zinc deficiency is common in the United States, most doctors recommend 30 mg/day, taken orally for four to six weeks, to bring your levels up to par before surgery. If you undergo surgery in a zinc deficient state, your recovery time will be lengthened, so be sure to test and supplement your zinc levels, if necessary, well before any planned surgical procedures.

- Vitamin C: I noticed that after my surgery, I had a craving for citrus fruits. Well no wonder - another important component for full post-operative recovery is vitamin C. According to the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, levels of this vital compound actually drop in burn victims, post-op patients, and other victims of physical trauma. The minimum required intake of vitamin C to maintain healthy bodily function is about 300mg to 1g per day following surgery or other procedures.

Vitamin C is required to make collagen, the connective tissue in the skin that helps healing and prevents blistering. Vitamin C strengthens scar tissue and also helps reduce tissue death after burns. It also helps to strengthen the immune system and fight off infection.

But don't take processed, synthetic forms of the vitamin. Ascorbic acid is not the same thing as full-spectrum vitamin C. Get your vitamin C from nutritional supplements or superfoods made from plants. (I used Emergen-C packets, they contain both zinc and Vitamin C. You can also apply Vitamin C topically to help speed wound healing.

- Vitamin A/Beta Carotine - another important vitamin to speed wound healing. I drank carrot juice a lot after my surgery and ate lots of fresh, leafy greens.

- Aloe Vera Juice - My surgery was to remove my appendix, which is part of your intestines, and I had some post-surgery pain and inflammation to my intestines after the surgery. Since aloe vera is such a wonderful healer to the skin, I thought, why not also take it internally? You can buy aloe vera juice at most health food stores, but most of it tastes pretty nasty. I buy the sweetened Alo brand that has the chunks of aloe vera in it. You can also find sweetened aloe vera juice in Asian food stores. In my opinion, the sweetened kind is much more palatable. Within a day of drinking the aloe vera juice, my pain and inflammationin my intestines went away completely! You can also apply aloe externally to heal your wounds - aloe is an excellent wound healer.

- Coconut Oil/Juice - I take 1 tbsp of coconut oil internally and also apply it externally to my scars to prevent inflammation and speed healing. I also drink coconut water/juice to help me heal internally.

- Bromelain: An enzyme found in the stems of pineapples, bromelain is useful for reducing post-op swelling. It acts as an anti-inflammatory and boosts the immune system to reduce pain, bruising, tenderness, frostbite, and burns. It is a natural supplement that works the same way as Ibuprofen. The only difference: bromelain will not harm your liver.

If you decide to take anti-inflammatory supplements following surgery, however, remember that inflammation is not always a bad thing. In fact, inflammation is your body's way of bringing blood and nutrients to the area that needs healing. It is your body's adaptive response to trauma. Inflammation actually serves an important healing purpose, so don't go crazy trying to eliminate it with drugs or supplements unless there is a strong medical reason for doing so (check with your doctor to determine what's right for you). After my abdominal surgery, I looked like I was 2 months pregnant from all the abdominal swelling, but that went away in about a week or two. Walking helps getting the circulation going which helps the inflammation to go away faster.

- Chlorella: Japanese studies have found Chlorella Growth Factor (CGF) to be especially effective in speeding up cell growth, a major factor in the natural repair of wounds. Various other studies reveal CGF helps heal ulcers and promote bone and muscle growth. When taken internally, it also acts as an immune-booster. Topically, it functions as a protective cleansing compound for skin.

- Gotu kola: I used gotu kola after my surgery to help speed wound healing and improve my circulation and I feel like it helped a lot. This herb has been used for centuries in Asia as natural medicine. Gotu kola - also called marsh penny, Indian pennywort, and British pennywort - helps in the treatment of scars and wounds with infections that have not yet reached the bone. The herb can be used both internally and externally while components ofgotu kola have been shown to increase levels of antioxidants and help repair connective tissues.

- Silica helps heal skin, ligaments, tendons and other tissues.

- Colloidal silvercan be used topically to prevent infections.

- Acupuncture can help speed wound recovery. Needling the tissues near the wound can boost local circulation and help eliminate scar tissue.

Scar Care:

- Vitamin E Oil: Always has been my go-to remedy for scar care. I use Jason's Vitamin E oil. Helps prevent infection and help speed healing of new wounds.

- Silicone: I've done some research on scar care and apparently topical silicone (silicone sheets or cream) helps flatten, lighten and heal scars. I use Scar Away and haven't seen results yet, but I will update if it is successful (for new scars, it supposedly takes 8-9 weeks. Old scars take about 3-6 months to improve).

- Massage: supposedly helps break down scar tissue with raised scars. I use the Scar Away system which combines silica with massage, will update on how it works.