Sleep on your back with your head and shoulders raised on 2 to 3 pillows and a pillow under your knees. This keeps pressure off your stitches and helps trapped gas settle away from your shoulders. After the first few nights, you can sleep on the side opposite your cuts with a pillow between your knees.

Most people find the first 2 to 3 nights the hardest. Bloating, gas pain in the shoulder and tender cuts make it hard to get comfortable. This usually improves day by day. If pain gets worse instead of better, call your doctor.

• Best position: on your back, upper body raised, knees supported
• Side sleeping: usually fine after a few days, on the side away from the cuts
• Avoid: lying on your stomach, curling up tightly, twisting
• Getting up: roll to your side first, then push up with your arms
• First 24 hours: no sleeping tablets or alcohol after general anaesthesia
• Call your doctor if: pain keeps rising, fever, breathlessness, chest pain or leg swelling

This article is general guidance. Always follow the specific advice your surgeon gives you.

Three things usually keep you awake: gas, sore cuts and the after-effects of anaesthesia.

• Trapped gas. During laparoscopy, gas is pumped into your tummy so the surgeon can see inside. It is let out at the end, but some stays behind. The NHS lists bloating, cramps and shoulder pain as common after the operation.
• Shoulder-tip pain. The leftover gas irritates the diaphragm. The nerve there sends the pain signal to your shoulder, so your shoulder hurts even though it was never touched. A 2022 study on gynaecological laparoscopy notes that where the gas collects may shift with body position. This is why lying completely flat can feel worse.
• Sore cuts and tummy muscles. Turning over uses your core muscles, which pulls on the cuts.
• Anaesthesia and pain medicines. You may feel groggy, sick or unusually tired for a day.
• Hospital routine and worry. A review on post-operative sleep found sleep problems are common after surgery and can slow recovery.

Position	When	How to do it	Watch out for
Back, upper body raised	First few nights	2 to 3 pillows under head and shoulders, 1 under knees	Do not lie fully flat if shoulder pain is bad
Recliner or armchair	First 1 to 3 nights, if bed is too painful	Recline partly, feet supported	Move your ankles often to keep blood flowing
Side, away from cuts	Usually after a few days, when comfortable	Pillow between knees, small pillow hugged against tummy	Do not press on the cut side
Stomach	Only after your surgeon says so	Not advised early on	Direct pressure on cuts and belly button
Curled up tightly	Avoid early on	Not advised	Strains tummy muscles and cuts

Most women who have had pelvic laparoscopy have cuts near the belly button and low on both sides. Here, back sleeping is usually more comfortable than either side at first. If all your cuts are on one side, sleep on the other side.

Use the log-roll. It keeps your tummy muscles relaxed so the cuts are not pulled.

1. Sit on the edge of the bed, near the pillows.
2. Lower your upper body onto your side, using your arms to take the weight.
3. Lift your legs onto the bed together.
4. Roll onto your back as one unit, shoulders and hips together.
5. To get up, do it in reverse: roll to your side, drop your legs over the edge, then push up with your arms.

Hold a small pillow firmly against your tummy if you need to cough, sneeze or laugh. It gives support and eases the pull on the cuts.

Before bed

• Take the pain relief your doctor prescribed on time. Do not wait for pain to peak at night.
• Walk gently around the house in the evening. The NHS advises moving around as much as you can. Walking helps gas move and lowers clot risk.
• Eat a small, light dinner. A heavy meal adds to bloating.
• Drink enough water through the day, but less just before bed to avoid many night-time bathroom trips.
• Keep water, medicines, your phone and a light within reach.

For shoulder-tip pain

• Raise your upper body with pillows instead of lying flat.
• Try a warm (not hot) compress on the shoulder. Never put heat on your cuts.
• Short walks and changing position help the gas get absorbed.

What to avoid in the first 24 to 48 hours

• Sleeping tablets and alcohol. An NHS day-surgery leaflet advises no alcohol, smoking or sleeping tablets for 24 hours after a general anaesthetic. The NHS advises no alcohol for 48 hours.
• Any over-the-counter sleep aid you have not cleared with your doctor. These can add to the drowsiness from pain medicines.
• Tea, coffee or cola late in the day.

If you use a CPAP machine for sleep apnoea, tell your surgical team before surgery and use it after. Pain medicines can affect breathing during sleep.

While resting in bed

• Move your ankles in circles and flex your feet. The NHS recommends foot and leg exercises while resting.
• Wear compression stockings if you were given them.

For most people, sleep gets noticeably easier within the first week. Gas-related shoulder pain usually settles on its own within several days, as noted in published research. Overall recovery depends on what was done. The NHS says recovery usually takes up to 10 days after a diagnostic laparoscopy, and up to 6 to 8 weeks after operative surgery.

Time after surgery	What you may feel	Sleep approach
Night 1	Groggy, bloated, shoulder pain, sore throat	Back, well propped up; someone at home with you
Nights 2 to 3	Gas and cut pain, often the toughest nights	Propped up; walk before bed; pain relief on schedule
Days 4 to 7	Shoulder pain easing, cuts less tender	Lower the pillows; try side sleeping if comfortable
Weeks 2 and beyond	Mostly back to normal after minor procedures	Usual position, if your surgeon agrees

These are typical patterns, not fixed rules. Longer operations, such as surgery for severe endometriosis, a large fibroid or hysterectomy, often take longer.

Many women have laparoscopy to check the tubes, treat endometriosis, remove an ovarian cyst or fibroid, or as part of a fertility workup before IVF. The sleep advice above applies to all of these. A few points are specific:

• Light vaginal spotting can happen for a few days, especially if a hysteroscopy was done at the same time. Use a pad, not a tampon, unless told otherwise.
• Longer surgery means longer recovery. Excision of deep endometriosis or a myomectomy involves more internal healing, even if the cuts look small.
• Planning IVF or pregnancy after surgery? Ask your doctor when it is safe to start. The timing depends on what was found and done, so there is no single answer.

 

When to call your doctor at night

Some discomfort is expected. Pain that keeps getting worse is not. Based on NHS guidance:

Call your doctor or hospital promptly if you have:

• Fever, or you feel hot, cold or shivery
• Tummy pain that is getting worse, or a tummy that is increasingly bloated
• Severe or continuous vomiting
• Pain, swelling, bleeding, pus or redness around the cuts
• Unusual bleeding or discharge from the vagina or back passage
• Pain and swelling in one leg

Go to emergency immediately if you have:

• Chest pain or a very fast heartbeat
• Severe difficulty breathing
• Coughing up blood

Shoulder pain with breathlessness or chest pain is not gas pain until proven otherwise. It can be a sign of a clot in the lung and needs urgent care.

Recovering after laparoscopy in Pune

Dr. Supriya Puranik is a gynaecologist and IVF specialist in Shivajinagar, Pune, with over 30 years of practice. She performs laparoscopy and hysteroscopy for fertility-related problems such as endometriosis, fibroids and tubal assessment, and follows patients through recovery.

If you have questions about your recovery, or are planning laparoscopy as part of fertility treatment, you can book a consultation.

• Phone and WhatsApp: +91 7502519999
• OPD: Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM
• Address: Sakhar Sankul, Narveer Tanaji Wadi, Shivajinagar, Pune 411005

If you had surgery elsewhere, contact your operating surgeon first for anything urgent. They know exactly what was done.

• 

• About Author

  Dr. Supriya Puranik

  Gynaecologist & IVF Specialist
  
  MMC -072514 (1993)

Dr. Supriya Puranik, a renowned gynaecologist and infertility expert, leads the IVF & Gynaecology department at Sahyadri Hospitals Momstory in Shivaji Nagar, Pune. She is committed to helping couples overcome infertility challenges.