Deep Healing: How You Can Better Heal After Surgery with Dr. Cheri Ong - Genius Network Episode #180

Protein is the building blocks for creating the surgical healing process and you want to increase your protein intake to 0.84 grams a pound. Now, good sources of protein include lean meats and you can also take the supplement called collagen hydroxylate.

If you'd like to join world renowned entrepreneurs at the next Genius Network event or want to learn more about Genius network, go to geniusnetwork.com what if you could heal even quicker and reduce your downtime by a day or by a week or by a month? Yes, that's possible. And that's exactly what Dr. Cherie Ong has been doing for 21 years as a surgeon. Cherie has personally performed over 2,200 surgical procedures as a plastic surgeon. Now in addition, she studied, researched and personally tested ways her patients could heal faster and in many cases over 50% faster than normal. Now how's that possible? Because there are many things doctors and even surgeons won't tell you yet. Dr. Cherie will keep in mind. Cherie has been a trauma surgeon taking care of some of the sickest patients in the surgical intensive care unit and is also a reconstructive surgeon. She has dealt with complex wounds and the healing challenges that follow such speed healing, how you can heal even faster after surgery. Please help me welcome Dr. Cherie Ong.

So you must be thinking, I'm healthy, I'm not planning to have any surgery anytime soon. Or why do I need to listen to a vaginal plastic surgeon talk about deep healing when I've already had my labia surgery last year? I feel great from it. I'm not going to need another one. That's a joke by the way, but did you know that there were 50 million surgical procedures performed in 2020, which means that you have a 1 in 4 chance to have surgery this year. Now I know that recovery isn't easy and for all the high level achievers that you are, I know that the standard for here's a piece of paper to fall off the surgery, take your pain meds and follow up with me next week is just enough. So what I have learned is a method that I will share with you today that will elevate your recovery by 50%. These are the things that your surgeon will not share with you that will give you less side effects, less complications and just an ELF recovery. The first is mindset. You got to focus your energy in the recovery process. This is a real thing because surgery is actually a physical stressor and there's a thing called surgical stress response that really affects your biological Stress, overall biological stress. And they have found to research that healing is actually four times longer at the time of stress versus during vacation. So make a commitment to yourself and block your calendar because it's probably the smartest thing that you're going to do. I'm going to share with you 11 actions to take before surgery that will completely change your life. The first is nutrition. Protein is the building blocks for creating the surgical healing process. And you want to increase your protein intake to 0.84 grams a pound. Now, good sources of protein include lean meats and you can also take the supplement called collagen hydroxylate. The big message here is really taking real food, because real food, your body knows what to do with it, it recognizes it, and you can use it towards the healing process. Bruising is one of the things that people don't like after surgery, especially in facial surgery. And bromelain is super helpful. You can take the supplement or fresh pineapple juice is actually a good option in order to get tons and tons of bromelain. One of the biggest things that people feel has become an issue in terms of the healing process is itching. And this app on the store called Food Intolerance is probably one of the best things you can do not only for surgery, but a lot of other things in your life. Download the Food Intolerance app because it will give you the guide you need to maintain a low histamine diet during your healing process. Start the day before surgery and continue for three weeks. Many people think about multivitamins. Am I taking enough vitamins in order to sustain my energy and health? But most people don't understand that minerals are super important and the average person is deficient in minerals. And you definitely want to increase the supplements of minerals because it is important for cell to cell communication. I like this product called Quinton Mineral because it's the most complete mineral structured product that has all the elements of the periodic table that exist on the planet today. And it's just easy. I put all my patients on it. What do you want to ask your surgeon? These are the things you should ask your surgeon that most surgeons won't share with you that will completely improve your recovery. First is ask your surgeon for a scopolamine patch. And this is a patch or band aid that you place behind your ear after surgery and you want to place it the night before and it will help you with nausea relief for 72 hours after surgery. Most surgeons will give you anti nausea medications and remember to ask for the rapid dissolving Zofran, not just a regular one, because when you're nauseated, you don't want to wait an hour and a half for the medication to work. You want it to work immediately. And so as for the rapid dissolving tablet called Zofran, and this is one of the things that can completely accelerate your recovery process. And one of the best things that probably has been invented in surgery is Exparel. Exparel is a long acting numbing medication. Ask your surgeon to inject it in your surgical site because it will increase the numbing in the surgical site for 72 hours. And that's the most important time that you need pain control. Infection is a drag. Now there is a method that you can decrease that by 30% after surgery. And using chlorhexidine soap as a full body shower the night before surgery can be helpful in reducing the risk of infection to your surgical site and also all the complications that occur after surgery. Now these are the advanced only tips and I know you guys are super interested in things that I'm doing in my practice that improve healing by 50%. The first is peptide support. Peptides are amino acids that specifically target the healing process. The three I'm sharing with you here, BPC157, TB4 and GHKCU is directed at accelerating that healing process. Second is when you have surgery, you're going to need more nutrients. You're eating more vegetables, you're eating more meat, but some of the elements may not be there. So IV nutrient therapy will be great. This IV vitamin therapy. So go to a look up in Google some of the places you can go nearby getting IV therapy or nurse to come by and that can be helpful for you to increase healing. You can get your vitamin C, B vitamins and amino acid for healing. It would be amazing if you can supplement that with ozone therapy or hyperbaric oxygen. These two therapies actually help improve the oxygen delivery to your tissues and can accelerate your healing. With all the other things that we are doing today, after surgery, the most important thing is mindset and listening to your body. You want to think about what your body needs and what your body feels. And this concept of one step forward, three steps backward is important because you don't want to feel great and then do too much and then take three steps backward in your healing process. Five Ps and actions you can take after surgery. The first P is puke. Hopefully you have placed a spolamine patch behind your ear. You have your Zofran as needed for rescue medication. And one of the big tips I can share with you is taking your pain meds with food and not an empty stomach and that will help reducing the incidence of nausea. Second is pain. Again, hopefully you've done the homework and you got the Exparel, which is the long acting numbing medication. Pain is important because you want to improve mobility and reduce the risk of a blood clot, and that's called dvt. Blood clot in your leg can lead to that blood clot traveling to your lungs and it can cause what we call a pulmonary embolus. And that is something that is disastrous in your medical care. So being able to move easily will help reduce that risk. You can ice and also consider taking other natural inflammatories like turmeric or CBD in order to help with the healing process. Constipation and bloating is very uncomfortable after surgery. And taking more fiber in your diet, this has really been very helpful as well. Is aloe vera juice. You can take this juice or supplement and try to taper off your narcotics as quickly as possible because that's the number one cause of constipation. We mentioned a little bit about pruritus or itching earlier. Maintain your low histamine diet for three weeks after surgery. That will help you heal better. Less itching in the incision site, which occurs about a week after surgery. And then two supplements that are super helpful during this time is quercetin and diamine oxidase. Diamine oxidase is the antidote for histamine in foods and that can really help you sleep better. Have less itching around the site and just make your incision even better. Scarring I'm a plastic surgeon, so everyone wants to look pretty and have a pretty scar. Avoid sun exposure. Just know that the scar is influenced by sun and the scar is actually influenced for up to a year after surgery. So for a year after surgery, avoid sun exposure. But if you do, place some block with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide to the incision so you don't get a dark scar. Massage and taping is important to get the scar as thin and beautiful as possible. Vitamin E, which is very common, is actually a myth. What I recommend is silicone, which has been tested clinically. Now more than ever. You are the advocate for your own health with everything going on in the world right now, and you now have the tools that you need in order to deep heal.

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