Can I smoke weed before surgery? All truth about it is here!

Going under the knife is always unpleasant. Whether it’s spinal surgery, removing a tumor, or simply cutting out tonsils, postoperative rehabilitation can be very painful. Most often, in such cases, doctors prescribe strong pain relievers, but they can be addictive and have hundreds of side effects. Naturally, many are thinking about looking for alternative methods of dealing with pain. In the process of searching, many will learn about the pain-relieving properties of marijuana.

If you are a marijuana lover, rolling and smoking a tight joint will be your natural desire before surgery, as it will reduce anxiety and help you feel more comfortable. However, smoking marijuana before surgery is not recommended. Mixing cannabis with certain types of anesthesia can have negative consequences.

Smoking also causes coughing and phlegm production, which can interfere with the operation. If you are a dedicated fan of marijuana and use it regularly, be sure to tell your doctor and anesthetist about it. Of course, you may be uncomfortable or scared to admit this to the doctor, but isn’t health more expensive?

Can you smoke weed after surgery?

There are a lot of studies that indicate the harm of using opioid pain relievers after surgery. How long after surgery can you smoke? As for cannabis, there is still too little data on its effect, because studies are just underway. For example, in the UK, an experiment was conducted in which people who had surgery were prescribed cannabis extract as pain relievers.

A drug based on this extract, Cannador, was prescribed to 65 patients. For experimental purposes, each subject was prescribed a different dose of the extract. The result was obvious – with increasing dosage, patients experienced less pain. But high doses of Cannador also caused side effects such as nausea and a rapid heart rate.

But the experiment with the use of smoking weed after anesthesia can be considered a success. Cannabis and its derivatives do an excellent job of relieving pain, and the side effects are incomparably less than in the case of classic pain relievers.

Smoking weed and surgery: reality

Unfortunately, our society and doctors still have a long way to go before you can get a prescription for marijuana after surgery. But, if you decide to help yourself, try to refrain from the standard methods of using marijuana – joints, bongs, and in general everything related to the combustion process. A weakened body should not add problems, let alone the pain you may experience when coughing.

Try cannabis treats, tinctures, or oils instead. Vaporizers are a good alternative both after surgery and in general for people who are concerned about their health. They harmlessly deliver only the necessary active substances to the lungs, without giving the lungs and other organs stress.

Does marijuana affect anesthesia?

In caring for patients after surgery, hospital nurses noticed that after anesthesia ended, it was more difficult for marijuana users to cope with pain. On discharge, they have to be supplied with a large number of pain relievers.

So far, doctors are suggesting to refrain from using cannabis a month before surgery – THC remains in the body for about 25 days. And the best step is, to be frank with the anesthesiologist about marijuana, alcohol, or drugs. If you regularly take any of this, it will be better for the doctor to know about it from you in advance, and not to guess himself during the anesthesia, when you are already lying on the operating table.

Weed before surgery. Plastic surgeons recommend that patients refrain from smoking in the preoperative period and for some time after surgery – at least when the results of the operation are finally consolidated (for example, the breast after mammoplasty continues to form for a year). This is a well-known fact, but British surgeons, agreeing that many patients are not ready to follow the doctor’s recommendations, published a scientific article on what are the medical considerations for prescribing smoking cessation after plastic surgery.

Does weed mess with anesthesia?

Smoking affects the blood vessels throughout the body: they constrict, as a result of which the blood supply to certain areas may be reduced or difficult. In a healthy state, such a phenomenon may not even be noticed, but after anesthesia and surgery, the immune system is in a weakened state, and the body reacts especially sharply and sensitively to any functional disorders.

Materials that reduce blood circulation and hinder the interaction of hemoglobin and oxygen are nicotine and carbon monoxide (it is contained in cigarette smoke and enters the body of passive smokers with almost the equivalent attention as in the body of active ones). Due to the circulation problems, the blood “stagnates” in the vessels, and most often this happens specifically in the area that has experienced surgical correction: for the healing of injuries, the body directs biological devices with blood to the area of ​​intervention. Meantime, stagnation of blood can provoke thrombosis or even tissue necrosis, caused by the cells not getting enough oxygen and nutrition.