Your GP can provide advice for any long term condition alongside medication reviews and raise any concerns you have about worsening/change in symptoms.
Managing your condition
Fitter patients who are able to improve their health and activity levels recover from surgery more quickly and with fewer complications.
What you do in the time leading up to surgery can have a really big impact on your recovery and long-term health.
If you are living with a long-term condition, managing your lifestyle choices can help prevent flare ups, delay your condition getting worse, improve symptoms and improve your recovery following surgery.
Many medical conditions can affect recovery from surgery. It is important to make sure any known conditions are controlled as well as possible ahead of your surgery.
You can also book in for a general health check at your GP surgery if you are between 40 and 74 years old.
For more information about support to manage your long term condition(s), visit the NHS website (opens in a new window).
Resources
The Royal College of Anaesthetists’ Fitter Better Sooner resources (opens in a new window) will provide you with the information you need to become fitter and better prepared for your operation.
There is also a huge range of short health videos by clinicians that provide information and advice on how to help manage your long-term condition or prepare for your procedure. Access more than 600 health information videos here or download the Health and Care Video Library App.
The Pain Toolkit offers a set of tools to help aid pain self-management.
For those with bone, joint or muscle pain, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy offers advice to help manage pain at home.
Charitable organisations also provide support and advice for people affected by chronic pain.