Usually, a back surgery comes with some degrees of pain that could be quite overwhelming for the patient. If you’re going through a recovery from spine surgery, you need means to reduce the post-operative pain. This will cut across all his essential daily routine, including the bowel habits in your seated position.
One of the major concerns will be how to sit on toilet after back surgery. You must know that sitting exerts the most pressure on the back, especially if your current toilet seat is low. So, the best way to sit is that your knees are not higher than your hips.
The guide below provides you with the right sitting posture for proper bowel management during the recovery from surgery. We’ll also talk about some daily exercise program alongside additional safety tips on using the bathroom after back surgery and more.
How To Sit On Toilet After Back Surgery
The best way to sit on toilet after back surgery is to ensure the knees are lower than the hips. At much as possible, avoid every bending or twisting while using the toilet.
To fasten the healing process, you must follow all your surgeon’s instructions. The primary rule is that you should avoid activities and positions that inflict pain on your back. It’s true for any type of surgery.
Sitting is the most common body posture that exerts very high pressure on the back. You must consider how to sit on toilet after back surgery to relieve pain from your shoulders and back.
Sitting could be a difficulty when you don’t maintain the correct posture for weeks after surgery. So, you will need to set up your toilet and other sitting places to be convenient and suitable for your recovery process.
Steps on How to Sit On Toilet after Back Surgery
Get the right toilet set up or equipment:
Using the toilet after back surgery could be difficult without the right setup. The need for the necessary equipment is to avoid bending and twisting. When you bend or twist without a complete recovery, it will thwart your spine and distort what the surgical operation is meant to correct.
Several toileting aids and stools could make using the toilet after back surgery a simple process. This equipment will enhance safety and maintain independence for the surgery patient. Also, they create the necessary mobility ease and ensure that you won’t have to bend or twist while using your toilet.
Here are some of the equipment:
1. Toilet Safety Rail
Setting a toilet safety rail will give you additional support and security to use your toilet. It’s a perfect toilet fitting that will help you prevent twisting or bending after back surgery. It assists you in sitting or standing from a toilet seat independently.
The rail is made from a lightweight aluminum frame that can carry about 300 pounds. It easily and securely fits on the toilet and doesn’t interfere in the cleaning process for the toilet.
The design of the toilet rail includes its soft foam handles, which are also non-slippery to grip to provide comfort. Also, most of the handles are adjustable to ensure that it perfectly fits the patient’s size.
2. Toilet Stool
Sitting on the toilet comes with some pressure and kinks. With back surgery, it won’t be easy to have a full relaxation of the buttock muscles within the colon region that is always tight. Hence, you are bound to get restrictions for a quick or complete bowel movement that will support waste flow from the colon.
Using a suitable toilet stool will relax the puborectalis, give you proper bowel control, and ensure easy and complete passage of waste. It maintains the right position that supports your back by preventing bending. Hence, your recovery path gets the necessary full support. A toilet stool is best for use when your toilet seat is quite high and your feet won’t normally balance on the floor.
3. Toilet Seat Raiser
Sitting after your back surgery must be such that your hips are higher than your knees. This position creates an alignment among your ear, shoulders, and hips. So, it lessens the pressure that comes from sitting.
Using a toilet seat raiser is the best way to raise the height of your toilet seat so that your hips won’t fall below your knees. By increasing the height of your toilet seat, you won’t need much effort to sit on it. So, you can independently use the toilet without any assistance from anyone. You can improve your recovery speed by getting the right chair after spinal surgery.
Moreover, the toilet risers are made from plastic. This makes it comfortable to use and easy to clean. Their design is such that they can sit perfectly over existing standard toilets without any challenges. Some of the raisers have adjustable mounting brackets to ensure secured fitting on different toilet seats. Also, they come with lids for coverage and to prevent odors.
4. Maintaining The Right Hygiene
In setting up the necessary toilet equipment, you should not forget about your toilet hygiene. On the other hand, you must avoid bending and twisting for proper and fast recovery. So, one of the important toilet hygiene tools is a toilet wiping aid tool.
The wipe aid tool has a handle for the patient to hold. The cushioned grip is what holds your toilet moistened wipes or tissue securely for the wiping operation. After wiping, you can conveniently press the top of the handle to release the used tissue or wipe.
5. Clothing management
It’s very important to wear the right clothing or use some convenient additions to ensure that you don’t bend or twist while putting back your clothing after using the toilet.
Grabber or Reacher
Sometimes, your clothes may move lower down your legs or slip off while using the toilet. Where you have no assistance to take up, it will pose the risk of having to bend. This will be quite devastating to your recovery after back surgery.
You use a grabber to take your clothing back into position if they slip while using the toilet. The grabber will easily hock on to your clothes as your lower them and then drag the clothes up to your desired position.
Clip and Pull Dressing Aids
Dressing clips and pull aid are a great alternative to a grabber. It allows you to clamp clothes and pull them into position without any damage. Using this dressing removes the possibility of bending or twisting while wearing your pants and other underwear.
First, you will have to fasten the clip on the pants. While using the toilet, you can pull down your clothes to a comfortable position. When you are done, all you have to do is pull up the strip of the dressing aid without bending or twisting.
Tips on Good Sitting Position after Back Surgery
Here are some tips for a good sitting position after back surgery
- Generally, your sitting period after back surgery is tagged to 20 minutes for the first two weeks. You should alternate it with about 30 to 60 minutes lying down or engaging in a very short walk.
- Sit in a correct position so that your knees are at the same height as your hips.
- While sitting, your feet should be on the ground. Avoid the elevation of your legs not to stretch some of the neural structure at your back.
- Avoid crossing your legs while sitting.
- Don’t lean or tilt to one side. You should sit at the center of the seat.
- Ensure your pelvic is a bit forward to avoid drooping on your tailbone. As much as possible, ensure you are sitting comfortably while keeping your spine in a straight and upright position.
- Open out the front of your chest by drawing back your shoulder blades. Your sitting position must be such that your ears, shoulders, and hips are aligned.
- Don’t use recliner chairs as they don’t provide any spinal support.
Additional Safety Tips While Using Bathroom after Back Surgery
You must follow the advice of your surgical team and your doctor after back surgery for a quick recovery. Ensure that your incision remains dry and clean for the stipulated period that your doctor gives you.
Below are some safety tips while using the bathroom after back surgery.
- You should not shower till 4 days after the back surgery. This helps in the healing of the incision.
- Use a clean towel to dry the incision after showering gently. The drying should be in the form of gentle patting on the incision surface instead of rubbing.
- Avoid using a hot tub, swimming, or bathing for two weeks after the surgery. Your incision should be completely healed before doing such activities.
- Where you are using a neck collar, confirm from your doctor if you can wear it when you shower. There are cases where a surgical patient will have to use a separate hard collar during a shower.
Final Words
You must understand how to sit on toilet after back surgery. This is to ensure a fast recovery while keeping the back unharmed. Sitting is one of the major positions that exert much stress on the back as well as the spine. So, you must make adequate preparation with the necessary toilet equipment and process to reduce bending and twisting while using the toilet.
The best sitting posture on a toilet after back surgery is keeping your knees at the same level as your hips. So, you can set up a toilet with a toilet safety rail, seat raiser, stool, and others for a pain-free experience after the surgery.
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