Life after thyroidectomy

After thyroid surgery, you will need some time to recover. However, it will soon be possible to return to normal activities. Healthcare professionals will give you exercises and tips to speed up your recovery.

After thyroidectomy, you may experience some of the following:
Voice changes, such as hoarseness, difficulty speaking loudly, fatigue, and changes in the tone of your voice. These changes are due to damage to the laryngeal nerves during surgery. This can last a few days or weeks but is rarely permanent. Your blood calcium may be low because the parathyroid glands are damaged during surgery. This is usually only a temporary problem and is treated with calcium supplements for a few days. Signs that you may have a calcium deficiency are numbness and tingling sensations in your lips, hands, and soles of your feet, a crawling sensation on your skin, muscle cramps and spasms, headaches, anxiety and depression . After thyroidectomy, each person will feel different. You will most likely be tired and a little sore for a few days. You may experience pain not only from your incision, but also from muscle pain in your upper back and shoulders. This is the position of pressure in the operating room during surgery. You will get a prescription for a liquid pain reliever in the hospital and a prescription for a pain reliever at home. You may have a sore throat: This is the result of an anesthetic tube being placed during surgery. Throat lozenges and sprays usually work. Your neck may also be slightly swollen. You may feel like there is a lump in your throat when you swallow. This should improve after a few days but may continue for a week or longer. If you notice a sudden swelling in your neck, contact your surgeon.

After thyroid surgery, you will need some time to recover. However, you will soon be able to return to your usual activities. Healthcare professionals will give you exercises and tips to speed up your recovery.
Your recovery will depend on the extent and type of surgery you had. Recovery time from traditional open surgery is longer than with the minimally invasive laparoscopic procedure.
During the first few days immediately after surgery, you will need to take care of your incision area. Depending on the type of bandage you use to cover the wound, you may be allowed to shower or not shower, bathe, or swim until the wound heals. You may notice slight bruising or swelling around the surgical scar, this is normal.
However, if you notice any significant swelling, you should contact your surgeon immediately as this could be a sign of an infection. The scar may gradually turn pink and feel hard. Scars harden usually around three weeks after surgery and then subside over the next two to three months. You can rub a small amount of unscented moisturizer around the wound as this helps soften the skin and prevent dryness as the wound heals.
You will need to take at least 1 or 2 weeks to recover before returning to work and other daily activities. You should not lift any heavy objects for about 2 weeks after the activity to avoid any strain on the neck.
Your neck is likely to be swollen and may feel stiff and numb shortly after surgery. This is normal and will get better as the wound heals. As soon as you can turn your head without pain or difficulty for about a week, you can resume driving and other daily activities including non-contact sports.
Your hospital physiotherapist may recommend some gentle neck and shoulder exercises after surgery. This will help prevent any permanent stiffness. Be sure to follow your physical therapist's instructions. If you continue to have problems with pain or stiffness, contact your doctor.
When your neck is stiff and painful, you may need to eat foods that are soft and easy to swallow. Make sure you eat slowly and drink plenty during and after meals to soften food and prevent blockages. It can be helpful to use a blender to prepare solid foods.
You will need to visit your doctor or surgeon a few times after surgery to check hormone levels and wound healing. At these visits, you will receive advice on how you can get back to your usual activities soon.
People who have had a total thyroidectomy and most people with a partial thyroidectomy will need to take thyroid replacement medicine (thyroxine) for the rest of their lives. Without this thyroid hormone replacement, you will experience fatigue, depression, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, unexplained or excessive weight gain, dry skin, rough skin and/or itching, dry hair, hair loss, feeling cold (especially in the feet and hands), constipation, muscle cramps, joint pain, increased menstrual volume, low sex drive, and more frequent periods.
The hormone replacement pills are small and easy to take. Your doctor will check your hormone levels on a regular basis and adjust your thyroxine dosage until it's right for you.

Most people take 1 to 2 weeks off to recover. You should not drive for at least a week. Other than that, there are no other restrictions. Depending on how much thyroid tissue was removed and the reason for the surgery, you may have thyroid hormone (Synthroid or Cytomel) placed.
In short, thyroidectomy needs to be performed at a quality and reputable medical facility with a team of experienced doctors and modern equipment to be safe. for the patient. Currently, when suffering from thyroid-related diseases, patients can go to Vinmec International General Hospital, which is one of the leading prestigious hospitals in the country, trusted by a large number of patients. medical examination and treatment. Not only the physical system, modern equipment: 6 ultrasound rooms, 4 DR X-ray rooms (1 full-axis machine, 1 light machine, 1 general machine and 1 mammography machine) , 2 DR portable X-ray machines, 2 multi-row CT scanner rooms (1 128 rows and 1 16 arrays), 2 Magnetic resonance imaging rooms (1 3 Tesla and 1 1.5 Tesla), 1 room for 2 levels of interventional angiography and 1 room to measure bone mineral density.... Vinmec is also the place to gather a team of experienced doctors and nurses who will greatly assist in diagnosis and detection. early signs of abnormality in the patient's body. In particular, with a space designed according to 5-star hotel standards, Vinmec ensures to bring the patient the most comfort, friendliness and peace of mind.

References: medtronic.com, hopkinsmedicine.org