Keeping Your Brain Healthy
Looking After Your Brain Before and After Surgery
Looking after your brain health is an important part of preparing for surgery. Good preparation can help reduce the risk of delirium, support your recovery.
What is delirium?
Delirium is a sudden change in the way a person thinks, acts or understands what is happening around them. It can happen when illness, surgery, medicines or treatment affect how the brain works.
A person with delirium may:
- Seem confused or not know where they are
- Find it hard to concentrate or following a conversation
- Be sleepy, quiet or withdrawn
- Be restless, agitated or distressed
- See or hear things that are not there
- Be awake at night and sleepy during the day
Tell your healthcare team if you have had delirium before, have concerns about your memory or thinking, or have noticed a recent change. These changes can come and go. Delirium is different from dementia, although people with dementia can also develop delirium.
Stay Active
Keep doing your usual activities and exercise as much as you safely can. Walking, stretching, gardening and other exercises can help your strength, balance and independence.
Keep your mind active too. Talk with family and friends, read, do puzzles, listen to music or enjoy your usual hobbies.
Get good sleep
Keep regular sleep and wake times. You can also:
Speak up if you are not feeling like yourself
Tell a staff member immediately if you feel:
- confused
- unusually sleepy
- frightened or restless
- different from your usual self.
Family members and carers should also tell staff if they notice a sudden change in your thinking, behaviour, alertness or ability to do your usual activities.
Recognising changes early means the healthcare team can look for and treat possible causes.
Sudden new or worsening confusion is not a normal part of ageing and requires urgent medical assessment.