Deciding to move forward with sleep apnea surgery can be a big decision. To ensure all procedures run smoothly, you should prepare for this. Gather all necessary information and anything you might need to know about this surgery.
Preparation not only helps make the procedure smooth but also helps with a quicker recovery. This guide will provide you with practical tips for preparing for sleep apnea surgery.
1. Make After-Procedure Arrangements
The most important preparation is to make arrangements for anything you may need afterward. You need to arrange for an adult who can drive you home and stay with you because this procedure requires anesthesia. In the case of MMA surgery, your doctor may suggest that you be on a soft food diet for a little while. So you should gather any food before your procedure.
In some cases of sleep apnea surgery, you are unable to return to work or school for a week or two. In this case, you must request leave in advance, and you can work from home while you recover.
2. Ask Questions
Before the surgery date, you should ask your surgeons the most essential questions. You can ask yourself questions, even silly ones, to help you feel more at ease. Don’t hesitate too much when asking questions. Creating a list of questions will be helpful; this way, you can look back at things you may have overlooked.
When you find the answers to the questions, it helps you feel as comfortable as possible on your surgery date. Your surgeon will be more than happy to answer your questions and wants you to know what to expect during sleep apnea surgery.
3. Lose Weight
Healthy lifestyles and weight loss help reduce complications during surgery. Excessive weight can lead to complications with anesthesia, the healing process, and put you at greater risk of a heart attack. Some studies have shown that to achieve a successful surgical outcome, you need to lose 10% of your total body weight before surgery. This can improve the chances that your surgery will be a success.
Moreover, you need to know that being overweight is also a common cause of sleep apnea. So, reducing weight can help the surgery succeed.
4. Stop Using Certain Medications
Before and after the operation date, you need to avoid using NSAIDS (like ibuprofen), vitamins, aspirin, and herbal supplements. These medications cause your blood to thin, which means they increase your risk of excess bleeding during surgery. This is why it’s essential to stop taking any of these medications at least 10 days before your surgery.
5. Quit Smoking
As excessive weight can create complications during sleep apnea surgery, smoking also plays the same role. This is why you need to stop smoking several weeks before your procedure. A smoking habit can decrease blood flow, which can impact your wound healing process. Only blood flow is not affected by smoking, which can also cause many problems, such as:
- Maximize the risk of developing blood clots
- Problems with anesthesia
- Risk of infection
- May develop pneumonia
