Prevention goes without saying as the ideal when it comes to our health. Here at The Good Oil Daily, we’re huge believers in food as medicine, balance and interaction, and doing what we can as part of our daily habits and lifestyle to:
- maximise nutrition vs empty and sugar-laden calories
- energise and fortify our spirits with essential oils to help us better handle the stresses and curve balls that inevitably come our way, and
- reduce known toxins wherever possible in our home and office. These are the only environments we have any much control over and we can minimise our environmental toxic load by choosing cleaners, room fresheners and perfumes and self-care products free of known harmful or questionable ingredients and synthetic fragrances
You’ll find on our blog a wealth of tips and guides on how to do this with the help of Young Living’s genuinely pure essential oils and essential oil-enhanced cleaners, foods, supplements and personal care products. Check out the categories on the right sidebar or use the search function to target particular goals. Just as we do, you can also build a Young Living business from your love of wellbeing and wanting to help others have the same. It’s simple, rewarding and about the most level playing field when it comes to developing and earning income that you will find. No stock to carry, no major outlays and investments, complete time flexibility and you’re your own boss working with proven systems for success. Get in touch with us here to find out more.
Sometimes in spite of our best efforts to look after our wellness, stuff just happens.
I hear people saying, “Why bother looking after your health – a friend of mine did all the right things and keeled over the other day of a heart attack,” or was just diagnosed with cancer, or … any of the many illnesses that exist. You’ve probably heard of the same thing and maybe wondered the same.
It’s understandable to draw that conclusion. But I’d rather do everything I can to tip the odds firmly in my favour. Maybe those issues described above would have happened to those people a lot earlier in their lives if not for all the care they took to live as well as they could. That’s my belief, at least. So I’ll keep on doing all I possibly can and know that no matter what, I can’t blame myself down the track for not having tried or done more. No regrets!
So, what if you’re faced with something that does require surgery? Just as with prevention, doing all you can to support yourself before and after will help you take charge of everything that’s within your power. It comes down to common sense, really, so here are some general pointers to help you get started with your preparation and planning.
CAUTIONS TO OBSERVE
Please note that some essential oils, vitamins, foods and supplements can interact or not be helpful when you’re going to have surgery along with its associated medications and anaesthetics.
As soon as you know you’re going to be undergoing a procedure, give your medical team a complete list of what you’re using and taking so they can check and advise you of any that should be paused.
Some essential oils can have a blood thinning effect, for instance.
There are also numerous foods and natural substances like turmeric, ginger, garlic, olive leaf, fish oil and vitamin E whose effects are mostly beneficial in day to day life — but when the body and cells are about to undergo the dramatic changes that happen during surgery — which is trauma to the body — they are best reintroduced for post procedure-care and avoided in the lead-up.
We’re not being alarmist – just being sensible. Some sources suggest as a general rule of thumb to cease all herbs, oils and supplements for a week or two leading into surgery. Be guided by your healthcare professional.
Personally, I would still happily diffuse and apply a great many oils in my preparation to help my spirits and the various feelings I might go through when anticipating such a major event. But I would double check which single oils are in the blend, for instance, and choose whatever I’m using with care, being mindful of those with possible cautions and contraindications.
Now that we’ve covered the very important topic of what NOT to use, let’s get on with a few basics to help your overall wellbeing going into and coming out of such an event should one happen to come along in your life.
PROBIOTICS & GUT BIOME
Gut health is vital at any time and anaesthetic and medications are well documented as zonking out or vastly impacting our good bacteria. Both before and after, target this area and don’t let up. Choose good quality probiotics and foods rich in them such as certain yoghurts and kefirs.
There’s a wealth of great information out there on improving your gut biome and microbiome. We encourage you to dive into it and start introducing helpful foods regardless of whether you have upcoming surgery. It’s a lifestyle change with growing evidence of its helpfulness in combating a quite astoundingly wide range of conditions.
NUTRITION
Aside from any specific dietary guidelines your medicos have given you, it really comes down to eating what we know is beneficial to our everyday health.
Consume plenty of fruit and vegetables, lean protein, some quality whole grains. Drink plenty of quality water.
Young Living has a tremendous food product called JuvaPower™, a high antioxidant vegetable powder complex and a very rich source of acid-binding foods. It’s also high in fibre. Anaesthetics temporarily pause many bodily functions including peristalsis so having things working well in that area beforehand can be beneficial. Again, check with your doctor to be sure that’s ok at this time.
Your liver is about to carry a heavy-duty load with anaesthetic and medications, so minimise or eliminate the usual culprits that tax it: excess sugars, simple carbohydrates, alcohol and caffeine.
SLEEP
Goes without saying but blah, blah, blah, we’ll say it anyway! Now’s not the time to burn the midnight oil while burning the candle at both ends. That behaviour possibly got you into this position, by the way. Just saying …
Good quality sleep has to be one of your number one priorities. You’ll find some tips from us on incorporating essential oils and other things you can do to set up a conducive environment for a peaceful night’s sleep.
ESSENTIAL OILS FOR MOOD
As already discussed, some oils need to be paused in the lead-up to be on the safe side and do check those through with your healthcare professional.
Outside of those, diffuse oils to help your feelings be positive and foster feelings of security and success. Your body will be undergoing trauma and keeping yourself in a calm and positive state can really help tremendously with minimising the possible associated effects.
Diffusing essential oils is one of the easiest and effective way to feel their benefits when it comes to mood. Our sense of smell is the only sense directly linked to the limbic system, which is the control centre for our feelings.
If diffusing is not permitted or easy to do when you’re in the medical facility counting down to start time, inhale directly from the bottle. Good old trusty lavender (lavandula angustifolia) is extremely gentle as an all-rounder option.
This will also connect you up with The Good Oil Team for our personal support and coaching. We'd love to help you on your journey to vibrant well-being the natural way!
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MEDITATION, POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS AND GUIDED IMAGERY
There are plenty of people who swear by the results they’ve had by listening to guided meditations and imagery along with positive affirmations before and during surgery. You can even find recordings that have been especially made for this purpose. Hit your search engines and incorporate these techniques. It can’t hurt. Music that’s been researched to calm and relax the brain is also a great option. Bach and Mozart are names that crop up again and again.
POST-PROCEDURE CARE
Vitamin C is tremendously supportive and is not stored by the body, so as soon as you can, take the highest recommended doses possible, provided your practitioner concurs.
Continue to take probiotics to help rebuild your good bacteria.
To lend support to skin around the incision area, follow the doc’s instructions and talk with them about when you can start applying skin-nurturing essential oils and pure carrier oils like rosehip. As early as permitted, use oils that are known to be beneficial for skin care, be diligent and don’t let up prematurely.
Continue your positive mood throughout recuperation by diffusing. When safe to introduce oils that don’t have any influence over coagulation, Young Living Trauma Life™ is a beauty. It was especially formulated to offer support during difficult emotional exploration and an event like surgery can trigger all kinds of surprising things.
Apply a drop or two to the outer tips of your ears, chakra points (take care if any of these are located over incision areas!) and wrists and tips of ears and deeply inhale. It contains a percentage of helichrysum whose anticoagulant properties can be increased when combined with thinning medications like aspirin, so that’s why I’m being cautious.
Your liver needs all the TLC it can get with eliminating the anaesthetic and chemicals from your system. Be very gentle and nourishing with yourself while looking for ways to lighten your liver’s load. Continue on with shunning alcohol, caffeine, soft drinks, colas and sugars.
Young Living JuvaPower™ — the vegetable powder and fibre complex already mentioned in the pre-op section — is a great adjunct when you can resume normal eating again, provided your post-op care has no cautions or exclusions it would clash with. It will help bolster supportive nutrition while you’re seeking to eliminate the by-products of the procedure from your system.
Homeopathic arnica and bromelain (a pineapple enzyme) are often found to be helpful post-op for swelling, bruising and pain relief. Please check with an expert in that area for a targeted approach to help your general recovery.
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Essential oils are potent, so as always, please follow directions on the bottle and the usual guidelines for safe use of authentic essential oils.
