| By :
Mark Etinger
Unlike young people who tend to spring back from a surgery with ease and few complications, the elderly tend to have a much harder and slower time recovering from surgery. They are also much more likely to suffer complications. Medical complications are common among elderly post-operative patients. Often prescription painkillers cloud the mind and cause visual impairment in the elderly. This can lead to an inability to read the print of pill bottles and the potential for mixing up medication. Elderly people who already have memory problems are also at risk for taking too many pain medications because they may take some and forgot they took it and take it again. A short term rehab center can make sure that medical regiments are followed. Problems can also occur if your elderly loved one takes an oral medication (or medications) daily and cannot after surgery (some surgeries require fasting before and/or after the procedure). Make sure to let a doctor know if your elderly loved one is on a daily medication so that arrangements can be made for non-oral administration. Stopping certain medications abruptly (seizure medications, blood pressure medication) can be harmful. A short term rehab center can administer medications in a safe way. There is also the issue of day to day living during recovery. Elderly patients can be bedridden for long periods of time. Things like getting food, using the bathroom and other day to day functions can be difficult especially in the days after surgery. If you don't have the time to watch your elderly loved one you should consider a nursing home to care for them in the weeks after their surgery. A nursing home has staffed experienced in geriatric patients. They know more about the recovery process of older adults than a hospital staff who sees hundreds of different patients in a day. A nursing home can also offer daily monitoring, unlike hospitals which will send you home and then re-admit you once a problem becomes apparent. Being monitored by doctors ensures problems are solved before they bet so bad hospital re-admission becomes necessary. Rehab centers and nursing homes speed up the recovery process. No one wants to be bedridden, recovering from surgery. If that is the case, however, you want to do so as quickly as possible and under the most through supervision. Choosing the right short term rehab center or nursing home is an important part of the recovery process.
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