30 minutes on, 30 minutes off
We provide every patient with an ice-pack to put on their wound to help keep the swelling down. Our nurses will put fresh ice in it just before you leave. We want you to use this 30 minutes every hour (30 minutes on, and 30 minutes off). We are quite happy if you decide you want to keep it on for an hour or more at a time if that is what you want to do.
Use the day of surgery only
We have found that the ice doesn’t help much after the first day. So our recommendations are to stop using the ice-pack at bedtime the day of surgery. If you feel better using it the next day then feel free to do so, but most people get benefit only on the day of surgery.
Also note that it is very common to get a couple drops of blood on the white ice-pack we give you. That is perfectly OK. No worries!