I had excision of extensive endo and removal of my Fallopian tube four weeks ago. Recovery is going great, my pre-surgical pain has dissipated and my period wasn't bad either- brilliant results so far!! Up until today I've taken it easy with light exercise etc.
So...today's been a beautiful day and I was stuck of staying indoors so I decided to mow the lawn and do some weeding. Spent a good few hours pottering and then picked up my son, cooked dinner and took a nice bath. All good so far. However I've just sat down and BHAM! PAIN! My upper back, neck and pelvis are throbbing and I'm painfully stiff. Plus I'm exhausted!!! I'm so sorry if I sound a bit stupid but have I done too much at this point in my recovery? I ask this because previous to surgery I suffered neck/back pain and it's in the exact same places. I was doing great up to today so a bit worried that the op hasn't been as effective as I hoped...I'd really appreciate your thoughts, thank you x
Did you stretch after doing everything? Like 10 minutes of yoga.
The thing about muscles is that when you tense up from pain, they tense up too, which leads to pelvic floor dysfunction, or an overactive, overtly tensed pelvic floor. This means pain after doing lots of activity because your body will tense more with exercise such as mowing the lawn since it's so used to being tensed.
I didn't think I had it since I was a ballet, contemporary, & belly dancer before all my pain & symptoms got bad last year, and eventually it hurt to sit and then I started pelvic floor physiotherpy and it relieved the sitting pain.
Continuing with muscles, if they haven't been used in a bit, they lose mass, then need to be rebuilt. This leads to lactic acid build-up when you use them again. Increasing oxygen levels (try singing) and drinking water help you to produce less. Epsom salt baths do wonders, and add lavender or peppermint essential oil to the water.
I don't know about you but my mum and I both have pain in our shoulders and neck after we now the lawn so I think it has to do with the position it's pushed in.
Another thing you need to be aware of is after surgery, you spend lots of time in bed so you want to pace yourself, what you did in one day seems like a lot and you haven't done anything besides easy exercises, so you've been setback because you felt good and used all the energy to do stuff. In my pain manegment class (I'm 17) we're taught about finding our baseline where we feel comfortably uncomfortable, which is where your in a little bit of pain and at that point you stop what your doing since after that your pushing it.
Remember to take it easy and pace yourself. Maybe come up with a schedule where you do stretches and other things.
Do you have a long heating pad? I find those are perfect for back and shoulders.
For pelvic pain sit on a tennis ball on your peranuim (between vagina and anys) on a chair for 5 minutes, it will feel uncomfortable at firs but then it will relive the muscles.
Since your already sore do really easy stretches, anything extreme can pull a muscle.
Here's a bath recipe:
1-2 cups Epsom salts
1-2 drops peppermint essential oil (depending on how sensitive your skin is)
2-5 drops lavender essential oil
Hope you feel better soon
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Thank you so much. Your reply was so informative and well put! You've put me to shame- I should know better at 34 lol!! Seriously though, thank you. In the past I've posted questions and gotten a bit down hearted with lack of responses so I wasn't expecting much input. You have really brightened my evening 😀 P.s. In response to did I stretch...Er...no. In hindsight it's a heavy old mower that doesn't glide effortlessly over the grass. Hmmm. In future I'll do some exercises beforehand (I'm thinking the ones we had to do at school before PE). Thanks again for being so kind 😊
It can take up to 12 weeks for internal healing. This describes the healing process well and various causes of post op pain. centerforendo.com/is-my-end...
Absolutely brilliant article Starry. You've really put my mind at rest, thank you for taking the time to do that for me. I can now sleep soundly tonight without worrying about my aches and pains! Much Appreciated X
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Your welcome😊
Yeah lawn mowers are really hard to push, my mum has one from the 80's, I think. Right now we have snow😂
It's ok not to know better, there's no one there to tell you, I only know b/c of the pain course I'm in and because I ask a lot of questions when I see my physiotheprist.
I probably should've looked for a link about internal healing but Starry beat me to it, take it easy till the 12 weeks are up, it also depends on your body, I've been told some people can run 2 days after a lap and others sleep for 4 weeks. I'm still awaiting mine but I'll probably be 4 weeks of naps😂
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Hannah bit off topic this...but snow? Are you in the U.K.? It's been 18 degrees here today in the Midlands!!! Anyway, think I will 'follow' you if that's ok? I'm fairly new to this forum and I'm sure I seen somewhere that you can keep up to date on where people are in their treatments. I have a feeling I will probably get some useful tips off you 😀. Hope that's ok and again, thank you for being so nice 😀😀😀
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I'm actually in Canada, oops I probably should've said that.
You can message me too
I'll follow u too.
Yeah I'm in self paced learning while I wait for my surgery so when I have breaks I check my phone.
Hi Tammy I had similar surgery 15 months ago and my recovery did take a while! There will be days when you feel better/worse than others, as the internal recovery does take longer than you would expect. Try and build on your activity levels bit by bit, I remember being exhausted just walking to the local shop... hope the aches get better soon for you xxx
Blimey... I'm 8wks post Op for extensive excision surgery. Still struggling .... Only do a bit of cleaning and Im pretty much spent.
So I would say you're doing well, but over doing it possible. 12wk rule with healing. I try to be active but gently and rest in between. Best wishes with your recovery. Let's hope we'll be back to ourselves soon xxxx
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