Smoking and drinking alcohol can negatively affect your health and wellbeing, and now you’re preparing for surgery it’s important to make a change. If you’ve had these habits for a long time it might seem impossible, but the resources and guidance on these pages are designed to support you to make the first steps.
Shape Up 4 Surgery – stopping smoking and drinking
Hi, my name is Dr. Chandra, and I’m a consultant anaesthetist with a specialist interest in ensuring that patients are in the best shape before their operation and beyond. Having an operation can seem frightening and daunting; however, it provides an excellent opportunity for you to modify your lifestyle for the better, and this will help you during your surgical journey and beyond. Smoking and drinking too much alcohol can lead to increased complications, including heart and lung problems, poor wound healing, and infections, and this can in turn lead to you having a longer hospital stay.
Smoking reduces your blood’s ability to carry oxygen, and this leads to increased heart and lung problems. We understand that kicking habits can be difficult and stressful, but we can put you in touch with specialist services to help you. You can make the biggest difference by changing your lifestyle habits, by reducing the amount of alcohol you drink, or by stopping smoking.