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Common physical issues

In this section, we've provided some general information and advice on the physical issues patients commonly face during the ward stage of recovery. These include things like general weakness, weight loss, tiredness, joint pain and problems with mobility. Everyone is different. You may or may not experience these issues and they may be more severe or troublesome to some patients than others. Many of these issues will improve over the weeks and months after Intensive Care.

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Article: Breathlessness

Is it common to feel breathless after Intensive Care? Breathlessness after Intensive Care is very common. Why do I feel breathless? The time you spent in Intensive Care may have caused weakness in your muscles, including those that help you breathe, so they are a bit weaker and have to work a bit harder to help with your breathing. Also while in Intensive Care you can quickly lose your ability to exercise, so while running for a bus may have made you breathless before, after...

Document: Breathlessness-breathing exercises

This booklet outlines some of the breathing techniques that can be used to help breathlessness. Try out the different approaches. Controlled breathing can be particularly useful if you are feeling very breathless.

Document: Breathlessness-positions that might help

This booklet describes some of the positions that people find useful when managing breathlessness. Try the different positions and find the one you find the best. Different people find benefit from different positions.

Article: Critical illness related weight loss

Patients can lose a lot of weight during their time in Intensive Care (sometimes up to 20% of their weight on admission) and often have issues with eating after transfer to the general wards. This can happen for many reasons; some are physical, some psychological and others are to do with hospital routine (e.g. being presented with food at very different times to when you would normally eat). Eating enough and well is an important part of your recovery. Your dietitian will do her/his best...

Document: Incontinence patient guide - American Urological Association

This document has excellent information about urinary incontinence and will be helpful to better understand the problem. Please use this document and also the nhs website (link below) to plan how to manage: Urinary incontinence NHS website

Article: Joint stiffness and pain

Patients sometimes suffer from stiff and painful joints after Intensive Care, particularly in the ankles, knees, elbows and shoulders. This can make it difficult to do simple things like getting out of bed, walking around the ward or washing and showering. Why do I have joint stiffness or pain? Patients who have spent longer in Intensive Care seem to be at greater risk of developing joint stiffness and pain. Joint stiffness and pain can be due to several things but is most likely a...

Article: Mobility issues (walking)

Once you are transferred to the general ward and are beginning to become more active, you may be surprised to notice that you are perhaps not quite as able to do the things you thought you would. There are a number of reasons for this, not least that you are still in the very early stages of recovering from a serious illness, an operation or an accident. Tiredness and general weakness are extremely common, even if you only spent a short time in Intensive Care or were previously fit and...

Article: Muscle wasting and weakness

Why do you get muscle wasting? In the early stages of your illness, you may have been unconscious, and needed help from a breathing machine (or ventilator) for your breathing. During this time, you will have been unable to use the muscles in your arms and legs, and to move your joints yourself. We know from research (where pictures have been taken of the patients' muscles) that these muscles reduce in size, or waste, when they are not being used. This can happen quite early in...

Web Link: Voice changes in ICU (dysphonia)

This video explains the voice changes some patients have after being on mechanical ventilation (breathing machine).

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Common physical issues

You have 9 results.