Maintaining a nutritious diet is essential for daily requirements that your body needs, not only in preparation to get through the day, but also to replenish depleted nutrients and energy to recover from stress, trauma and physical activity. Any type of surgery is a stress on your body, so our bodies need to work harder to overcome even the most minor of surgical procedures.
To provide your body with the weapons to boost your immune system, replenish your blood and heal faster you must ensure you are ingesting good quality essential nutrients.
So what can you do to maximiseyour Hair Transplant Surgery recovery?
Obviously in preparation for surgery it is best to avoid things like smoking, alcohol and recreational drugs. In addition, certain things like non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, caffeine, warfarin and fish oils can thin your blood. Ensure you speak to your doctor about whether or not to cease any necessary medications that have been prescribed for you.
After Hair Transplant Surgery
Water – Good old H20
Six-eight glasses of water is the recommended daily amount of water and assists fibre to work better and prevent constipation. Keeping hydrated will also avoid the symptoms of dehydration, such as nausea and vomiting, and flush any toxins out of your system.
Calories
You’ll need energy to endure your hair transplant surgery. Sometimes they can be several hours in duration. So eat a light meal prior and you’ll better able to process any pain medications given to you during your surgery and minimise nausea.
Protein
Proteins are the basic building blocks of skin, so they are essential for quality wound-healing.
Fibre
During surgery you are only mildly sedated for a short period and will not require breathing apparatus as you would with major surgery. So you will be able to get up and move around, watch movies and chat to the friendly staff at Newin Institute.
However, some of the pain medication given to you during surgery may make your bowel movements slow down. To avoid constipation, get lots of fibre into your diet from good sources like prunes, prune juice, vegetables, legumes, beans, whole-grains, cereals. You could also trypsyllium or Metamucil.
Vitamins and minerals
The best vitamins to boost skin recovery, tissue repair and wound healing include:
Vitamin C – to produce wound-healing collagen and elastin;
Zinc – necessary for the production of collagen (Zinc also interacts with Vitamin A to make it available for use in the body and also plays a vital role in immune function);
Vitamin A – promotes the growth of new blood vessels, important for nourishing newly forming skin tissues;
Vitamin B6 – ensures optimal fat and protein metabolism and assists clotting during the wound-healing process;
Copper – a trace mineral that promotes the formation of strong, flexible connective tissue ( An important consideration if you are having FUG (Donor Strip) Surgery);
Vitamin E – an antioxidant that boosts your immune system by neutralising free radicals in your body;
Iron – Your body needs iron as well as copper to make haemoglobin which delivers oxygen to the tissues;
Vitamin B12 – important for making DNA during cell production. Importantly, it assists red blood cells to reach maturity, so they can function to deliver essential oxygen to your body’s tissues – especially in wound repair.
At Newin Institute Hair Transplant Surgery and Cosmetic Medicine we car about optimising your surgical experience. Call us now for an appointment in Sydney or Melbourne on (03) 9693 9200.
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