Be Positive About the Healing Process

When someone is recovering from a major surgery it is preferable that this process is uneventful, sterile, full of nutritional health and positive ideally. Health psychologists often help evaluate the mental health of a patient prior to them undergoing surgery; however, unplanned surgical events and unplanned family emergencies can not always be predicted.

The healing process of a wound is a complicated but amazing process. The epidermis layer of the skin is the first line of protection against foreign objects entering the body and this layer of skin is used to having scratches and minor abrasions that heal rather easily without severe scaring (Buford, 2001). This layer of skin is important to the protection of the dermis layer of skin which makes up the majority of the tissue as well as ensuring the regulation of body temperature and protecting the body from a loss of fluid. The dermis constitutes the majority of the skin and therefore has a great deal of the fluids and blood vessels necessary to maintain overall tissues health (Yang & Glaser, 2005). This depth of cellular penetration is especially important with regard to healing of wounds.

When the skin is injured, be it through an accident or through a surgical procedure such as a planned abdominal surgery, a complicated process of recovery is triggered. The first step the body takes is to clot the immediate area of injury and then inflammatory cells are sent to the wound cite followed by a flow of monocytes and lymphocytes to as well as macrophagoctyic cells that help remove any excessive bacteria development (Yang & Glaser, 2005).

With all these natural processes occurring to manage injuries there is evidence that there are additional factors that are associated with wound healing such as a person’s immune system stability, their nutritional standpoint, or their stress levels (Yang & Glaser, 2005). For example studies suggest that psychological stress has an effect upon the integrity of the epidermal and dermal layers of the skin and their ability to heal efficiently.

Therefore, if a person is healing from a surgical related incision to the skin and/or muscular tissues which requires a healing process and they are faced with normal stresses with the addition of significant stressor it would make sense that the body may not distribute the available cellular and immunological resources to heal the body as efficiently as would be possible without the additional stress factor.

Myss (1997, p. 28-30) has suggested that there are opportunities for a person to disregard negative beliefs and feelings so that a person can focus on mending their own personal physical illnesses. However, this ability requires a level of faith an ability to have a positive psychological outlook regarding health, spirituality, and the healing process.

When considering the recovery process for someone who has just underwent a serious surgery and then had to face a significant emotionally challenge it would be recommended to have the person communicate the negative and sad feelings hopefully resulting in a functional decline in the psychological pain and an increase in the healing process as negative emotions can contribute to prolonged infection at the wound site, as well as immune deregulation for the core healing processes (Kiecolt-Glaser, McGuire, Rolbes, & Glaser, 2002).

Given this information a healthy diet full of fresh fruits and vegetables and organic fish and meat should be advised to the person complimented with relaxation therapy, coping strategies such as grief writing or mediation, and social support networks would be of assistance to a patient who is sadly recovering from a surgery as well as such a personal loss.

Buford, G. (2001). Wound healing and pressure sores. Heathology. Retrieved Novemeber 13, 2007 from http://www.healthology.com/skin-problems/article1510.htm

Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., McGuire, L., Rolbes, T. F., & Glaser, R. (2002). Emotions, morbidity, and mortality: New perspectives from psychoneuroimmunology. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 83-107.

Myss, C. (1997). Why people don’t heal and how they can. NY: Harmony Books.

Yang, E. V. & Glaser, R. (2005). Wound healing and psychoneuroimmununology. In K. Vedhara & M. Irwin (Eds.). Human psychoneuroimmunology. NY: Oxford University Press.