3 Items That Can Make Your Life Easier After Back Surgery

Health & Medical Blog

If you are getting to have surgery on your back, you may worry about getting around and performing normally easy tasks. If so, consider using the following three items that can make your life easier and more comfortable after back surgery.

1.  Keep Trash Bags Next to Your Bed

Keeping trash bags next to your bed may seem like a no-brainer, as having them means you do not have to get up to throw something away. However, easily discarding your trash is not their purpose for making your life easier after back surgery. You can also use them to help you get out of bed easier.

If you lay a trash bag along the side of the bed and tuck one end underneath you, the slick surface of the trash bag allows you to glide across the surface. Being able to glide instead of push and pull yourself helps reduce the strain these actions put on your back.

To make the action even smoother, consider investing in a pair of silk or satin pajamas. Either one of these materials reduces friction even more when going across the bags, allowing you to get to the edge of the bed quicker.

2.  Ask Your Occupational Therapist for a Grabber

After your back surgery, certain movements are going to be difficult to do without causing you discomfort. Doing things such as reaching for an item on the floor or even on your side table can put extra strain on your back, causing you a sudden increase in pain.

To combat this scenario, ask your occupational therapist for a grabber. This item has grapplers on one end and handles on the other that you can use to control the grapplers. They allow you to extend your reach and pick up items without having to strain your back.

3.  Have a Back Scratcher Handy

As you may have experienced at some point in your life, there always seems to be an itch somewhere on your body whenever it is the most inconvenient. If you are unable to bend or twist after your back surgery, you may end up having the urge to scratch your foot or that one spot on your back that seems impossible to reach.

To help you during these uncomfortable times, have a back scratcher handy. The back scratcher allows you to get to those hard-to-reach spots that may seem impossible when dealing with back pain.

The above items are only a few things you can use to help make your life easier after recovering from back surgery. Speak with your occupational therapist to discuss your personal needs so that they can help you come up with other ways to assist you with routine activities of daily living. Contact a provider, like Levi Hospital, for more help.

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15 September 2018

Take Your Health Into Your Own Hands

My name is Katie Langer. For a long time, I was bed ridden and I felt like I had no control over my life. I simply went along with what was instructed by my doctor and I didn't ask questions. It wasn't that my doctor wasn't willing to work with me, but I preferred to simply not think about the illness I was suffering from. I didn't realize that some of the symptoms I was suffering from were side effects of my medication and were not normal. After communicating more with my doctor, I was able to alleviate my symptoms. Since then, I've taken an interest in patient-doctor relationships and how to improve them.