The crucial thing to pinpoint is that anesthesiologists are not police officers. They are doctors who play an important role in your surgical process. Marijuana and anesthesia can interact, which is why you need to tell everything about your cannabis habits.
Surgeries are always stressful for patients, regardless of them being elective or urgent. How does the fact that you are a marijuana user affects the entire process?
An increase in the popularity of marijuana has been obvious in the past several years. Today, you can choose from a wide range of high-quality strains and brands available at AskGrowers, which attracted people of all ages to this plant. The experts estimate that at least 9% of adults in the United States are cannabis users. It is essential for them to know any connection between marijuana and surgery. Here are the details on whether you can consume weed before and after a surgical treatment!
Consuming Marijuana Before a Surgical Procedure
If you are a cannabis user, you know that its effects last for several hours. Depending on how you consume it, the effects stop after two to six hours. Those who go with ingesting marijuana orally could experience its benefits for up to six hours. On the other hand, the effects go away after a couple of hours for most smokers.
For surgeries that are not an urgent matter, you have the entire process of pre-operative preparation. Among other things, your doctor will surely instruct you not to eat anything for 24 hours before the procedure. If you are in a hospital and follow the facility rules, smoking weed before surgery won’t even be an option.
The odds are that the effects of the last time you consumed marijuana will wear off before the surgical procedure. But what happens if you decide to play against the rules or the surgery is an urgent matter?
Can Smoking Marijuana Affect Anesthesia Dosage?
The crucial thing to pinpoint is that anesthesiologists are not police officers. They are doctors who play an important role in your surgical process. Marijuana and anesthesia can interact, which is why you need to tell everything about your cannabis habits.
The surgery might be urgent, and being honest can help to avoid complications. Don’t hesitate to say when you consumed marijuana the last time, whether you are a frequent user, and share any other details that might be of assistance.
Scientists suggest that smoking cannabis can cause similar pulmonary complications as tobacco smoking. Weed can obstruct the patient’s airways, and that can affect the anesthesiologist’s decision on the anesthetic dosage you need before the surgery.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists advises that you shouldn’t eat anything eight hours before the process. That means cannabis edibles are out of the question, but the professionals agree that you shouldn’t consume this plant in any form on the day of the procedure.
Marijuana and anesthetic dosage are related, and frequent cannabis users might require stronger anesthesia. But cannabis also lowers blood pressure and increases heart rate. That can cause complications during the procedure, particularly if you consume weed close to your surgery.
Consuming Marijuana After Surgery
The most common problem that patients experience after a surgical treatment is pain. The entire recovery process could last for weeks or months. That is why people resort to using painkillers, but they come with a long list of side effects.
Opioid painkillers, such as morphine and codeine, can cause addiction, and patients develop tolerance to them. According to a study published in 2015, cannabis can be a safer alternative to these drugs. The biggest advantage of consuming marijuana after surgery is that its analgesic properties are constant.
While you could become more tolerant to drugs, cannabis always delivers the same effect. That is why patients resort to it to experience pain relief after surgery.
Can You Smoke Weed After Surgery?
When it comes to smoking weed after surgery, caution is advised, especially if you had a lung-related procedure. Smoking can boost sputum production and could cause potential complications after the treatment.
Your doctors should give you detailed instructions on how to behave after the procedure. That will involve diet suggestions, but if they don’t clarify, make sure to ask them whether you can smoke weed after surgery. Don’t forget to discuss all potential methods of using marijuana with a medical professional. Even if you shouldn’t smoke cannabis, perhaps you can consume edibles or use an alternative form of ingestion. Marijuana has analgesic properties and can provide therapeutic effects that provide pain relief after surgery, which is why it can be important to consider all options available.
Join the conversation!