A swift and smooth recovery after surgery is critical for anyone, but it’s especially crucial for women, who are likely to be managing many different responsibilities. While there’s a time and place for opioids, there are non-opioid pain management options to treat acute pain after common surgeries for women, like hysterectomies, mastectomies, breast reconstruction and cesarean sections (C-sections). In our new education program, we help you understand effective non-opioid options and how to talk to your healthcare provider about making Healthy

Medically reviewed by Dr. Puja Shah When Heidi Bright underwent a complete hysterectomy for uterine sarcoma in 2009, she was in the hospital for nine days. Striving to be the ideal patient who had the best odds of recovery, Bright did exactly what the doctors told her, which was to rely strictly on opioid painkillers to manage pain after the operation. Opioids are a class of drugs that includes the illegal drug heroin; synthetic versions such as fentanyl; and pain Healthy

Dipal Shah had an emergency delivery for her baby. She was put under anesthesia during the complex procedure and awoke in tremendous pain. « I kept pushing the morphine push button. The nurse had to stop me, » the 45-year-old recalled. « They wanted me to take opioids, but after the first day, I was throwing up and nauseated immediately. I couldn’t function. » Shah then switched to ibuprofen, which she used throughout her 12-week recovery. Many doctors are quick to give women like Healthy

Medically reviewed by Dr. Puja Shah Pain levels after surgery are different for everyone, and there are non-opioid pain management options to treat acute pain after common surgeries for women, like hysterectomies, mastectomies, breast reconstruction and cesarean sections (C-sections). Here are some facts to consider when discussing a pain management plan with your healthcare provider (HCP). Women face differences in treatment when compared to men, and are 40% more likely than men to use opioids three to six months after Healthy

As told to Alex Fulton Like so many things in life, the birth of my first baby didn’t go according to plan. I desperately wanted to deliver vaginally, but I wound up having to have a C-section because my baby had fluid in his lungs, and they needed to get him out quickly. I’d known this could happen, of course, and had done my best to have an open mind about the possibility. And when even my most basic expectation Healthy

Medically reviewed by Dr. Puja Shah Healthy