Even after countless of research and development, people still somewhere believe that blood donation shouldn’t be done or it can be dangerous. However, the strange thing is that people forget to see and look at the advantages of donating blood. Donating blood is a great cause that can save the life of a human being and their family in the process. Just the process of helping someone come back to life can in itself bring the donor’s heart with immense joy and pleasure and warmth. Moreover, blood donation is not just a great social cause. It is also good for the body of the donor.
You might think that how giving someone out blood might be good for our body. Let us tell you. When you give or donate blood in healthy and cautious circumstances your body doesn’t get any harm but in turn benefit from it. When the blood is transferred out, it gives space to the new blood cells to take place and refines your blood and helps the purified blood to travel to the whole body in a more appropriate way. Although, sometimes, there are chances that a person can faint after donating blood, but that happens in a very rare case and it’s nothing too serious to get all panicked about.
Tips That You Need To Know Before Blood Donation
It’s not just after donating blood that you have to be potentially careful about things, it’s before too. There are some things you need to keep an eye on including your lifestyle and physical health before you opt for donating blood. Let’s briefly and quickly know them –
1. No Smoking and Drinking
It is very important to keep your body and blood clean before you donate blood or opt for donating blood. It’s a strict rule to not consume or put your body through any kind of drug abuse for 12 hrs prior your blood donation period. It’s important that the blood that’s coming out of your body is clean. The consumption of cigarettes and alcohol also makes your body slightly weak, which can further cause complications while or after your blood donation.
2. Observe If You are Healthy Enough
A lot of times we ignore that cold and cough or stomach indigestion can also be known as sick. We perceive that sickness is something big or serious or fever. However, if you are looking to donate blood, then observe before hand if you are all healthy and your body feels fine or not. Even if you feel slightest amount of fatigue or any problems in any part of the body, be it cough or cold, then you must be responsible enough to refrain from donating blood.
3. Keep Yourself Hydrated
After you have observed your health and you have found no symptoms of any kind of sickness it should be your first and foremost priority to make sure your body stays hydrated. And my friends, for that you will need to consume and drink as much water as you can. Even k the morning, on the day if blood donation, make sure you have had enough water and get some fruit juice in your system that would help your body to have glucose and keep your body healthy and from fainting because of weakness or dropping of blood pressure and having plenty of water and juices would help you in that.
4. Watch When and What You Are Eating
Research says that it is necessary for a person to eat three hours prior to donating blood. It can be a bad idea to go for a blood donation on an empty stomach as that might make your sugar levels fluctuate causing further complications in your system and during the procedure of blood donation. Sometimes the nausea might hit during the donation so avoid eating just before it’s your time to donate. If you don’t prefer to eat something heavy, have a light breakfast or dinner like some sandwiches or toasts or cereals. But make sure you don’t go on empty stomach.
Tips You Need To Keep In Mind After Donating Blood
Now that we know what precautions should we take before blood donation, let’s get to know about the precautions that you need to take after donating the blood.
1. Take Rest
After you have donated your blood and the whole procedure has been completed, the volunteers in there would ask you to keep lying or sitting for an ample amount of time, say 15 to 20 minutes. Don’t try to instantly get up from the bed after the donation is completed and the needle is out of your arm. Take deep breaths and keep your body relaxed and lie down. Being nervous or jumpy might do complications in your blood pressure level.
2. Eat Sugary Stuff
After the process of blood donation and resting has been done, the volunteers around would provide you with mostly sugar stuffs like juice, a sweet, a packet of cake , some glucose, a water of bottle and some fruits. Try to complete all the things that has been provided to you so that your blood pressure and sugar level stays in control and you don’t get weakness in your body because of which fainting usually happens.
3. Refrain From Hard Work For Sometimes
Usually everybody nowadays work out in a gym, Exercise and do weight training and other stuffs. However, the day you donate your blood should be the day when you refrain from some hard work out or also avoid picking up things that are heavy and have weight. Allow your body to rest for a day before you go back to your normal routine.
4. No Drug Abuse
Just like you were supposed to avoid consuming any kinds of drugs before donating blood you have to refrain consuming it for the next 12 hours too. Blood donation can be a long process but it is also one of the greatest cause in the society. And when done properly with all the precautions, it saves countless of lives.
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