Postoperative rehabilitation and exercise in thoracic surgery

  Appropriate and regular physical exercise for patients in recovery period can obviously improve their physical fitness on one hand, and on the other hand, it can have positive influence on their emotions through interpersonal interaction in exercise, which is a very beneficial activity and should be encouraged.  For tumor surgery patients, if there is no contraindication after surgery, they can leave the bed after 1-7 days, that is, they can leave the bed at an early stage and be assisted by family members to walk around the ward to promote the recovery of body functions, but they can only do minor normal activities, avoid strenuous exercises such as climbing and cycling. If the surgery is more traumatic and the postoperative strength is poor, when you cannot get out of bed, you can do limb movement and turn over in bed. If your body recovers well, you can gradually increase the amount of exercise and change the content of exercise, from walking, qigong, taijiquan to doing exercises and even jogging.  General exercise: Get up and dress every morning. Regular activity is an important part of recovery. To keep the arms moving, walking also helps recovery. At the beginning, take short walks and gradually increase the walking distance daily, distribute the activity evenly throughout the day and avoid strenuous activities and prolonged lying down after overwork. To ensure a smooth wound recovery, avoid lifting heavy objects over 5 kg (e.g., children, shopping bags, etc.) for 4 to 6 weeks after surgery.  Showering at home is possible. Intradermal sutures will be absorbed after a few weeks.  Please discuss with your physician how many days after surgery you can ride a bike, drive, take a train or fly.  Ask your physician about how many days after surgery you can return to work.  Special Exercises: Breathing Exercises Necessity: Deep breathing exercises can be continued at home to keep the airway open. Deep breathing exercises should be continued until there is no phlegm, usually most effective when you are sitting in a chair with your back against the back of the chair.  Exercise: Place your hands under the front of your chest, inhale deeply through your nose, and exhale slowly through your (slightly open) mouth, trying to expand your chest as much as possible while taking each deep breath. Take four deep breaths for one cycle, and then rest. After 10 min of deep breathing, put a pillow against the wound and do a deep inhalation and cough up sputum at the same time. This exercise is done at least twice a day until there is no sputum and when breathing is smooth.  Series of exercises for the shoulder: Necessity: The shoulder joint on your operated side may be stiff and limited in movement, therefore, you need to do a series of exercises 2 to 3 times a day until the shoulder joint is no longer stiff. These exercises are best done in front of a mirror so that you can see each movement clearly.  Exercise: Hold your hands together, straighten and raise your upper extremities above your head, then lower them and repeat 5 times.  Hold your hands together, raise your upper limbs over your head, touch the back of your neck, then lower your hands to the starting position and repeat the exercise 5 times.  Place one hand behind your back and touch the scapula with the tip of your thumb, then place your hand in the starting position and repeat 5 times.