Tips for Safe Exercise After Open Heart Surgery

The recovery time after the open heart surgery is crucial and it took take about six to eight weeks for the patients. It is common for the physical therapist to visit you post surgery to get you up on your feet for short walks at the hospital. Since each case is different, therefore you should adhere to the specific guidelines provided by your surgeon or cardiologists. Bed rest is important and you should also perform the low level activities during the recovery period. Practical activities such as a low pace walking is significant to avoid the negative effects such as joint and muscle stiffness, muscle atrophy, loss of balance and coordination, etc. of the surgery and the best rest.

While resuming activities after the open heart surgery, you can feel frustrated that you cannot do the activities which you did before the surgery. But you should relax since this is only temporary and you can follow these tips for safe exercise after the open heart surgery:

Climbing stairs and Steps

You may climb the stairs and steps after the open heart surgery, but beware you should opt for the gradual approach. Initially, you will feel difficulty to climb the stairs immediately post surgery, since the operation is a trauma on your body and the medications for reducing the heart rate and blood pressure will make you feel sluggish.

Start with a single flight of stair, if you feel short of breath; then stop and take rest. As you start feeling stronger, gradually increase the number of stairs and reduce the breaks.

Overhead lifting

You can lift your arms over head for light activities such as putting the dishes on the cupboard. Try to limit the heavy objects and having the arms overhead for a longer period of time. You will not find it comfortable given the incision but you should try working within your pain free range of motion.

Sample exercise programs

You can follow the sample exercise programs which aims to wean yourself. You need to follow from shorter to longer exercise durations by minimizing how many exercising bouts you perform each day.

Aerobic exercises

Engage in aerobic exercises which work the large musculature of the lower body such as the hips and legs. These exercises are rhythmic in nature and you can perform them over an extended period of time i.e. more than 20 minutes. You should choose the exercise which you enjoy as this will help to improve your chances of sticking with it over the long term.

Perform a gradual 5 to 10 warmup and cool down before and after each exercise session. This will help your body to accommodate high intensities and minimize the risks of adverse effects. Try to avoid over-exerting yourself immediately following the open heart surgery. Since the sharp rise in the heart rate and blood pressure could aggravate your situation. Stick to the KISS; Keep It Slowly and Steady! Establish your fitness foundation slowly. Cycling and walking are two common activities which you can handle reasonably without any ill effects. If you find yourself with shortness of breath or gasping for air, ease up the pace.

Watch out the environmental stressors such as heat, cold or strong winds as they can make your exercise routine seem quite difficult. Be vigilant of any exercise induced signs or symptoms and immediately report them to your doctor. If these symptoms do not subside even after stopping the exercises or gets worse during rest, then seek emergency medical care.

Strength training or weight lifting

It is now recognized as an integral part of open heart surgery recovery plan. It can be safely administered in risk stratified cardiac patients who are now stable and can be managed medically. Since surgery and bed rest can lead to muscle atrophy, resistance training will help to offset the negative health effects and promote healing and wellbeing.

Before undertaking any of these exercises, it is important to discuss about your activity plans to your surgeon or cardiologist. Low level walking is advised post open heart surgery recovery phase. In order to advance the higher exercise intensities, you’ll be well advised to join a structured cardiac rehabilitation program which will help you to establish safe exercise intensity limits you can follow yourself.

Source:

https://healthcareandbeautytricks.wordpress.com/2016/06/17/can-too-much-exercise-harm-the-heart/