5 steps to take in your hysterectomy preperation

Need some help with your hysterectomy preparation for a better recovery? A hysterectomy is the most common surgery for a woman. In fact 1 in 3 of us will end up needing one. Here our personal trainer Ally shares her top five tips, based on her own experience of preparing for a hysterectomy:

5. IMPROVE YOUR CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS

Studies show those with a higher level of cardiovascular fitness recover faster from heart surgery than those are less fit. Their increased stamina and energy efficiency copes better with the demands of surgery. 

The best way to improve fitness is to find something you enjoy and start as soon as possible. Is exercise painful due to your condition? Just try to do as much as you can. You’re unlikely to make anything worse, so it’s more a case of what you can tolerate. If heavy bleeding is an issue, then try workouts at home. 

4. WALK AS MUCH AS YOU CAN

For the first 6 weeks after your surgery, the only real exercise you will be allowed to do is walk. This helps tissue healing as part of a stage known as ‘mechanical stress’.

Building endurance as part of your hysterectomy preparation will help if you’re not used to walking. A fitness tracker shows how much walking you are doing a day. But if you hate the idea of tracking then don’t worry. Just get out and walk as much as possible. It’s also great stress relief! 

3. GET YOUR GUT FRIENDS ON BOARD

Gut microbiome is a fairly new and fascinating area of study. 70% of the immune system lies in the gut, where a large proportion of your microbiome live. Research shows people who are healthier have a greater diversity of good microbiome and fewer nasty ones. 

Antibiotics are necessary during surgery, but kills a lot of our helpful microbiome. This leaves patients more susceptible to infection and slower healing. When patients took Pro and Pre-Biotics, studies showed faster recovery, less rates of infection and speedier return to pre-operation levels of good biome. 

I believe building up your internal bug family should be an essential part of your hysterectomy preparation. You need a couple of months of consistent probiotic use, so start early with those probiotic yoghurts. Eating loads of vegetables and fibre rich foods will also populate your gut with friends you can rely on. Plus these are pretty good for you anyway! 

Want more info? Megan Rossi’s book Eat Yourself Healthy is a great source of info and advice. 

2. MIND YOUR MIND

A huge study on mindset and hysterectomy surgery found women who had a ‘robust mindset’ recovered faster and experienced less on-going pain than women who ‘catastrophised’. This means thinking positively about your surgery and recovery actually helps you physically. 

When we think positively, we act more positively. Those actions, no matter how small, have a knock-on effect and help our recovery. When we catastrophise, we take fewer positive steps. For example staying in bed, not walking and eating junk food are all known to slow down recovery.

Surgery isn’t fun but the benefits will almost always outweigh any small risks. Plus recovery won’t last forever. Choose to be positive and you’ll likely have a much better time of it. Get your favourite box sets lined up on Netflix, some books and a pile of magazines. Your attention span be short at the start, so don’t pick anything too demanding. Then ‘enjoy’ some down time. 

As part of my hysterectomy preparation, I actually decided to look forward to my operation. I focused on the relief I would have afterwards. Plus the three weeks of lie-ins I’d have compared to my usual 5am starts! 

1. STRENGTHEN YOUR PELVIC FLOOR

Your pelvic floor muscles sit underneath your womb and other organs. Once your womb and possibly other organs have been removed, the ligaments will have been reattached to stop things falling down. 

A strong pelvic floor will help support the new positions of the organs as they move and shift. It will also support continence and reduce the risk of prolapse. Although the biggest risk of prolapse after a hysterectomy is from respiratory disease, obesity and having a prolapse repair at the time of hysterectomy.

To date, large studies and literature reviews have shown that no other technique is as good as pelvic floor exercises (Kegels) at strengthening this muscle. 

Of course there may be some instances where it is not advised or will not work. For example, when getting to the loo in a timely fashion is an issue. In the case of functional continence, balance and general fitness would need to be worked on, but that’s another story. 

You’ll be given advice on pelvic floor training from a woman’s health physio after your operation. But getting a head start would set you up well. The NHS Squeezy app is a great source of information on how to do them. It also sends you regular reminders to squeeze! 

There are also some key items to get ready before you go into hospital. Check out our blog on 5 must have items to ease recovery.