Heal Better Feel Better

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Let’s talk about stress and how it relates to your healing. Feeling stressed before and after surgery is very common, but chronic stress and anxiety can affect how quickly your body recovers. Learning simple ways to ease stress can help reduce pain, support your immune system, and help you heal faster. There are lots of things you can try. Listening to music you enjoy can help calm your body and mind. Writing down your thoughts — even just a few sentences — can help you sort through your feelings. Doing simple creative activities, like drawing or crafts, can help take your mind off stress and make you feel more grounded. Spending time with people you care about — family, friends, or even a pet — can be comforting and help you feel supported as you heal. Getting outside for a short walk or just sitting in nature can also make a big difference in how you feel. If you use tobacco or alcohol to try to deal with stress, please share that with your care team — they can help you find safer, healthier ways to manage stress while you recover.

Managing Stress Before and After Surgery

Your mental well-being has a big impact on healing. Managing stress after surgery has been shown to decrease possible complications, help you heal faster, reduce pain, and have better overall outcomes.

Key Recovery Goals

  • Faster wound healing
  • Reduced risk of complications
  • Boost immune function to fight infection
  • Manage pain

If you use tobacco or alcohol to help manage stress, tell your care team and use the buttons to find resources.

Using these substances can negatively impact your ability to heal after surgery.

Help Quitting Tobacco
Help Reducing Alcohol

Heal creatively

Creativity is a powerful way to enhance your mood and emotional state while decreasing anxiety, stress, and even pain. These activities are non-invasive, safe, and inexpensive ways to heal better.

Did you know that…
Listening to music has been shown to greatly reduce pain after surgery!

Music and Sound

Listening to music is one of the most accessible forms of creative healing. Simply listening to the music you like before and after surgery can:

  • Reduce Pain and Anxiety: Listening to music can significantly reduce pain and anxiety after surgery.

  • Boost Satisfaction: Listening to music during your hospital stay can help improve your overall experience.

If you don’t have an easy way to take your music with you on the go, there are many platforms that allow you to make a playlist for free and store it on your phone. 

BUILD A Playlist on Spotify
BUILD A Playlist on Youtube

Writing and Journaling

Believe it or not, journaling has been shown to increase the speed of wound healing. Take a few minutes each day to write about your thoughts and feelings before and after surgery.

Not sure where to start? Here are a few ideas!

Instructions:

  1. Choose a prompt that resonates with you
  2. Write freely for 5-10 minutes without editing
  3. Remember there are no wrong answers

Example prompts:

What does healing mean to me beyond just physical recovery?

Who are the people in my support system, and how can they help me?

What has surprised me about my surgery preparation or recovery so far?

Complete the sentence: “Right now, I need…”

Visual Arts and Crafts

Engaging in the visual arts can allow you to express feelings that may be too difficult to put into words and provide a creative outlet for stress. Visual arts help you by:

  • Shifting focus: Making art or creative hobbies (such as drawing, collage, card making, knitting, or pottery) can help you focus on the positives.

  • Expressing feelings symbolically: Art allows you to express your feelings in a symbolic way, helping you deal with stress and negative emotions

In the time leading up to your surgery, prepare some easy, creative activities you can do when you get home from the hospital.

Easy creative project ideas

Connect with friends and family

Feeling support and connection to others can help you heal more effectively. Reach out to a friend or family member and be open, and if you are able, let them know the support you may need. Spend time with pets that provide comfort and companionship.

Here are some ideas for ways your social network can support you:

Did you know that…
Feeling socially connected and supported can help your wound heal faster!

Help with rides

Ask someone you trust to drive you to appointments and home from the hospital.

Cook meals

Ask friends or family to bring you groceries or meals while you are recovering. You can even start a meal train to help arrange food deliveries.

Start a meal train

Spend time

Invite loved ones to spend time with you while you recover. You can even connect over video if people live far away.

Spend time outside

Sitting on your porch, going to a park, or even looking at pictures of nature (like in a movie or video game) has been shown to help speed up your recovery and reduce the need for pain medications.

Did you know that…
Spending even a short amount of time in a green space (like the forest or a park) can have significant health benefits!

Reduce stress hormones

Time spent in a nature reduces stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline.

Improve emotional health

Time in nature helps reduce negative feelings like anxiety, depression, anger, and fatigue.

Boost immunity

Spending time in places like forests can actually boost your immune system for more than a week after visiting.

Bring nature to you

If it’s difficult for you to go outside or find a green space, you can create one yourself!

Get some indoor plants

Add some indoor pants to spaces where you will spend time during your recovery.

Use images instead

Hang pictures of nature scenes, or set a nature screen saver on your computer or TV.

What’s the proof any of this works?

All the recommendations on this page are backed by clinical evidence. If you are interested in reading the studies, click the button!

Show me the science

CREATED BY HBOM

Healthy Behavior Optimization for Michigan is transforming healthcare through design.

Learn more at HBOMich.org.


HEAL BETTER
FEEL BETTER