One of the most inconvenient things about surgery is the recovery time. You feel as though your life is on hold and you have a laundry list of things you need to do to for daily life to be back to normal. However, there is one thing that most everyone enjoys that can aid in your recovery, and will do nothing but improve your overall health and daily life…sleeping! Getting a healthy amount of sleep will not only help you to recover from surgery but also improve your quality of life overall.
The definition of a ‘healthy amount of sleep’ can be a tricky one. It can vary slightly for everyone. Generally speaking, an adult needs 7-8 hours of quality sleep. Again, quality is tricky to define. A basic good night’s sleep would be eight hours of sleep on a regular schedule that leaves you feeling refreshed when you wake.
While you are asleep, your body and mind are hard at work. For eight hours, your body gets a much needed break from constant activity and your muscles do not need to be engaged. Your blood supply to muscles increases and blood pressure decreases. This allows your muscles to essentially be ‘refueled’. At the same time, your brain is slowing down and cataloging the important work your muscles did and storing those for when you wake up.
As you go deeper into your sleep, your brain then releases HGH, Human Growth Hormones. These hormones, along with extra oxygen, helps to level out your metabolism, increases the growth of muscle tissue, and heals any small stresses or tears in your muscles that occurred during the day.
Everything that happens while you are sleeping is important for your day to day life, but it becomes even more vital when recovering from surgery or injury. Physically, your body gets a chance to work on its own healing without any stress of movement or general use.
Thanks to all the work your mind and body do together while you are asleep, your body can basically heal itself while you lay there dreaming about puppies frolicking through a field of flowers. For this to happen, it’s important to be on a healthy sleep schedule and continue your own instructed healing while awake. If you have any questions on healthy sleeping and healing, feel free to ask the professionals at Muskegon Surgical Associates who know all about how important sleep is to your recovery.