Article: One of the most important things to do after you have had thyroid surgery is to keep the wound clean and dry. Follow your doctor's instructions for wound care and bathing following your surgery. Doing so may help prevent your wound from becoming infected and it may also help the wound to heal faster. Do not immerse the wound in water until it is fully healed. For example, do not go swimming or submerge the wound while taking a bath. Immediately following surgery, you may have a small drain tube exiting the skin of the neck near the thyroid incision site; it will help keep fluid from building up in your neck, fluid that could lead to infection and additional pain. Your doctor should remove the drain tube prior to your discharge from the hospital once any drainage is clear and sparse. The morning after your surgery, you can take a shower and allow water and mild soap to run over your wound. Do not scrub the wound or put pressure on it with high pressure water or your fingers. Just allow some water to run over the incision site and cleanse it. Your doctor may instruct you to keep the wound covered with some light gauze held on with tape. In this case, you may need to change your bandage once per day to keep the wound clean. Be gentle when you remove the old gauze as it may stick to your skin. If it is stuck, use about a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide or saline to moisten the gauze and make it easier to remove the bandage. Then use some cotton balls dipped in hydrogen peroxide or saline to gently clean away any dried blood on your skin before replacing the bandage. Surgical site infection in thyroid surgery is very rare as it is considered a "clean case," with minimal chances of contamination. However, it is important to observe the wound after surgery for signs of infection and talk to your doctor right away if you notice any of these signs. Signs that a wound may be infected include: Redness, warmth or swelling at the site. Fever greater than 100.5F (38C) Drainage or opening of the wound
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Keep the wound clean and dry. Cleanse the incision area the day after surgery. Change your bandage as needed. Watch for signs of infection.

Problem: Article: "A video game is on sale at 75% off. The sale price is $15. What was the original price?" or "An investment grew by 22% and is now worth $1525. How much was invested originally?" To solve these questions, you must understand that percentages are applied using multiplication. Whether it is an increase or decrease, it was applied using multiplication. Your job, therefore, is to undo that multiplication. You are not undoing the increase or decrease; you are undoing the application of the percentage. Therefore, three things will be true: You will be dividing by the percent. If you have an increase, you will still add the percentage to 100. If you have a decrease, you will still subtract the percentage from 100. Sales tax, for example, is an increase; discounts are a decrease. An investment that grows in value is an increase; a population that declines in numbers is a decrease and so forth. Let's imagine we have to work out the following problem: "A video is on sale at 75% off. The sale price is $15. What is the original price?" Sale is another word for discount, so we're dealing with a decrease. $15 is our "after amount," because it's the number we have after the sale has been applied. If it's a decrease, subtract the percentage from 100. Because we're dealing with a decrease/discount, we'll subtract 100 - 75, giving us 25%. Do this by moving the decimal point two places to the left or dividing the number by 100. 25% becomes 0.25. This will help us reverse the multiplication that we talked about in Step 1. Grab a calculator, punch in '15,' hit divide, enter in '0.25,' and hit equals. You've just calculated the original price. 15 divided by 0.25 = 60, which means the original price was $60. If you want to double-check your answer to make sure it's correct, multiply the sale price (75%, or 0.75) with the original price ($60) and see if you get the sale price. ($15): 0.75 x 60 = $45 sale; $60 (original price) - $45 (sale amount) = $15 (sale price) To better understand this type of problem, read the prompt and see if you understand how to finish the following problem: "An investment grew by 22% and is now worth $1,525. How much was invested originally?" This is an increase situation, so add 100 + 22. Convert the answer to a decimal: 122% becomes 1.22 On a calculator, enter '1,525', hit divide, enter '1.22', hit equals. Label the answer. For this problem, 1,525 divided by 1.22 = 1250, so the original investment was $1,250.
Summary: Use the unknown original amount method for the following sorts of problems: Decide if it's an increase or decrease situation. If it's an increase, add the percentage to 100. Convert that number into a decimal. Divide the "after amount" by the decimal from step 3. Our "after amount" is $15, and our decimal is 0.25. Label appropriately and you're done. Practice on the following examples.

Since salt causes fluid to stay in your body and increases the size of your edema, avoid processed foods, meats, soups, and snack foods. Instead, opt for whole grains, unsalted snacks, fresh fruits and vegetables, or fresh meat. Check the nutritional label and limit yourself to the recommended portion size for your meal. If possible, opt for low-sodium items so you don't consume as much salt. Rather than using salt to season your food, opt for different herbs, spices, or even lemon juice to add new flavors to your dishes. If you're going out to eat, ask them to prepare your food without salt and get condiments on the side. Even though edema is caused by fluid buildup, water helps flush the affected area and removes excess fluid. Try to have about 8 glasses of water spread throughout the day that are 8 fluid ounces (240ml) each. Do your best to avoid drinks that have caffeine or sugar since they can dehydrate you more. Many sports drinks have a high sodium content, so avoid having them. Limit the amount of alcohol or smoking of any kind since it stresses your body and can make you feel more dehydrated. Wait until your edema goes down or heals completely before you start drinking or smoking again, or else you may feel more pain or increase the size of the swollen area. Smoking and drinking can limit the nutrients getting to the edema and may cause it to get worse. Aim to be active for around 45 days each week for at least 30 minutes at a time. Try walking, jogging slowly, swimming, or lifting light weights since they won't stress your body out as much. As you get more comfortable with light exercises, try increasing the intensity or weight you're using to help relieve pain even more. Light exercise allows oxygen and nutrients to reach the affected area so it's able to heal faster. If you feel a lot of pain from your edema, talk to your doctor about what exercises will work best for you. Rub a moisturizing cream or lotion into the affected area 23 times each day so your skin doesn't dry out. Be mindful of the activities you're doing so you don't hurt yourself or get injured where you have swelling. If possible, try to keep the area covered with clothing so you're less likely to cut or scrape it. If you have dry skin, you're more prone to injury and it may take longer for you to recover.
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One-sentence summary --
Switch to a reduced-sodium diet to help control your fluid retention. Drink water throughout the day so you stay hydrated. Avoid drinking and smoking while you have edema. Incorporate light exercise into your daily routine to improve blood flow. Keep the swollen area protected and moisturized so you don't get injured.