How soon to use heat for swelling and what type of heat?

[Guest guest]

Hello, I jad upper and lower surgery at Kaiser Oakland on Wednesday.

The informational packet that they gave out makes no mention of using

heat to get swelling to go down. My question is, have people had great

success in using heat to minimize swelling, and how many days post-

surgery is it a good idea to wait before using it? Also, is a heating

pad to the face a good idea, or perhaps instead warm steam from a

humidifier?

Thanks for any input.

[Guest guest]

Hey,

My surgeon said that the ice worked to reduce swelling for 48 hours, but

after that it was not effective. I used heat after 7 days (when I noticed

the swelling wasn't decreasing as rapidly on its own), and almost

immediately it reduced the rest of my swelling! I'm 2 weeks post-op, and

hardly see any swelling Best of Luck!

Clare

>

> Hello, I jad upper and lower surgery at Kaiser Oakland on Wednesday.

> The informational packet that they gave out makes no mention of using

> heat to get swelling to go down. My question is, have people had great

> success in using heat to minimize swelling, and how many days post-

> surgery is it a good idea to wait before using it? Also, is a heating

> pad to the face a good idea, or perhaps instead warm steam from a

> humidifier?

>

> Thanks for any input.

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

My surgeon recommended ice for the first 48 hours, and then nothing

(however, the ice felt so good that I continued to use it for the

first 5 or 6 days post op, including while I slept).

After reading some of the posts here about heat, I tried it on days 6

& 7, and feel that the almost-scalding-hot wash cloth that I applied

to my face and neck every hour or so actually helped the swelling and

bruising to decrease. My parents' tap water gets *very* hot, so I

would literally stand at the bathroom sink for 25 minutes and keep

reapplying a hot wash cloth every 10 seconds or so.

When I saw my OS at one week post-op, he told me to only apply heat to

the bruised areas.

MTB

>

> Hello, I jad upper and lower surgery at Kaiser Oakland on Wednesday.

> The informational packet that they gave out makes no mention of

using

> heat to get swelling to go down. My question is, have people had

great

> success in using heat to minimize swelling, and how many days post-

> surgery is it a good idea to wait before using it? Also, is a

heating

> pad to the face a good idea, or perhaps instead warm steam from a

> humidifier?

>

> Thanks for any input.

>