Sternum healed and lifting

[CBH192]

Hi everyone!

I am now just over 13 weeks post op. I just wondered in terms of lifting, how did you guys know your sternum was ‘up to it’

I know I should be well on the way to healing now and I have started to lift things gradually and started off light. Is it just a case of if you have pain then stop? I guess I’m trying to gauge how strong my sternum is now 🤷🏻‍♀️😬 I’m not lifting anything major anyway as I’m 33 weeks pregnant! But I do also have a 3 year old who loves the park and sometimes needs some assistance!

Thanks in advance!

[jwd52]

I am now 12 months post op. Even now if I do too much or lift something too heavy my sternum hurts.Sorry to say I think it's just trial and error.

If you lift something too heavy your body will let you know and then just ease off for a while.

Wishing you all the best for you and your new arrival- exciting times xxx

Jill

[Redcoco]

Hi. The key date seemed to be 12 weeks post op. However my sternum certainly told me to stop doing things that it didn’t like (like changing the bed line) up to 6 months after the op. The thing seemed to be to do things carefully and to avoid jerky movements. Good luck with your new arrival. You are going to have plenty to do without doing too much lifting. Get someone else to do the vacuuming. X

[-007-]

Yes it’s definitely trial and error. 12 weeks and you should be ok as long as it’s not too heavy. But if your worried check with GP.

It’s been two and a half years for me and I find that certain things I just cannot lift like the washing up liquid bottle. Nope, just too heavy.

Dishes in the sink, too heavy once they get water on them… just can’t do it!

But then a full pint of beer is fine.

Just one of life’s quirks I guess 🤔🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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My name is Bond, James Bond and I take my aspirin shaken not stirred 🍸

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[PV74]

Hi there, as others have said I think it is a bit of try and see. I was told that at 12 weeks one’s sternum is 80% healed. I had triple bypass start of Jan, and started physio end April. After all the time of protecting my chest, I had started walking sort of stooped and had back pain … the physio had me do some simple chest opening exercises… and about three weeks in doing kneeling push-ups against the seat of a sofa. I was petrified but after I managed three, the next week I did five etc

I guess take things slowly… don’t go from zero to 100 mph overnight, but if you’re lifting 2kg this week, maybe try 3kg next week. Slow progress will hopefully give you confidence, but also warn you if you’ve taken it too far.

All the best with your recovery!

[fit4walks]

My hat off to you. You have a lot on a plate, so take it as it comes. The cardiac nurses gave me a guide for strength training. It basically says to start with low weights and work up to do 1 set of 10-15 repetitions per muscle group. The progression is:

- Increase number of sets up to 4 with 1 minute of rest in between

-increase the weight (or band strength if using resistance bands)

-increase reps to 20

- 2x to 4x a week

I did not feel when I had over done it immediately and had to start with twice a week, but that is slowly improving now.

Good luck and let us know when the little one arrives. It is always nice to get some happy news.