i had open heart surgery

**steppenwolf** · 05-12-2013, 11:36 PM

they cut my muscles and ribs open when i was 55 years old. i still have pain in my pecs 3 years later. i was

told not to lift over 10 LB'S. I Can only bench 1 LB. is there any thing that i can do for my muscles? thanks

**EKFitness** · 05-12-2013, 11:55 PM

seriously 1lb?

idk what to tell you besides seeing a professional. you can do dead lifts and squats and your entire body will grow

**ppwc1985** · 05-13-2013, 12:20 AM

I'm not telling to do anything just giving my opinion. When I hurt my back they told me never lift more than 5 pounds and never do no twisting. Well how can I live without doing either? I play golf and have no problem and I still lift heavy, I just don't lift heavy and twist at same time. Now chest is a whole different ball game but 1 lb, that just sounds ridiculous. I would ask a different dr, possibly a sports medicine dr.

**steppenwolf** · 05-13-2013, 12:43 AM

the therapist said that if i lift more than 10 Lb's, it will give me arthritis in my ribs.

if i bench more than 1 LB, i have a lot of pain in my pecs. it feels like i am injuring myself. there are people who have had torn

muscles. i was told that i will have pain the rest of my life. how are people who tore muscles able to come back from it?

**West Coast Winner** · 05-13-2013, 01:56 AM

Originally Posted by steppenwolf

the therapist said that if i lift more than 10 Lb's, it will give me arthritis in my ribs.

if i bench more than 1 LB, i have a lot of pain in my pecs. it feels like i am injuring myself. there are people who have had torn

muscles. i was told that i will have pain the rest of my life. how are people who tore muscles able to come back from it?

Well... I'm a physical therapist assistant and a college student for PT. IM NOt A PROFRESSIONAL but here's a little advice.

Your recovery to having a functional chest will take a long time. If you we're an athlete while younger that could help but it's not mandatory by any means. My strategy could have you doing full push-ups within 6 maybe even fewer months. The first thing you need to work is stretching, often and progressively in a more strenuous fashion as flexibility aka ROM (range of motion) improves. At first your going to be very tense and I'm sure it will hurt. Buying heat packs and ice packs are a GREAT idea also a good massage kit to rub your chest to help with pain management and increased blood circulation in your entire chest. Resistance bands can also be useful.

My non professional advice:
Consult a REALLY GOOD even expensive physical therapist or sports med doctor(some suck from my 3 internships).

Start with a heat pack, the larger the better. Cover your whole chest for 10-14 minutes. Make sure it's hot, but be careful because people can be burned badly from these packs. If you need to use extra layers of towels or rags to decrease temp. "Moist heat packs" are the best. Next begin with a series of stretches of your chest and shoulders. Get creative, there's a million ways to stretch your chest. Stretch 3 times a day for 15 minutes each workout. After your workouts use ice packs,for 10-15 minutes, 10 is fine though. And focus on eating healthy. Make sure your getting a high protein and healthy diet. You have a lot of muscle you need to replace. Eating a high calorie diet that's high in protein and includes all your multi vitamins and mineral mixed with some simple stationary bicycle cardio could do you wonders when it comes to healing. Also don't forget plenty of rest. Before I continue typing, let me know what you think so far and ask any questions you ,ay have for me.

Notes:
Can you hold both hands together I front of you and rise them above your head? If so, pain? What kind of pain specifically?

**West Coast Winner** · 05-13-2013, 02:02 AM

My car pool buddy to college has a pacemaker and some other heart complications. He's had 3 open heart surgeries and he's only 19yrs old. Ill consult him in the a.m. And let you know what his doctor told him. Honestly, the kids hella weak, but I don't think he gets much pain. I've known him most my life and he never complains about pain. And he never really has.

**steppenwolf** · 05-13-2013, 02:06 AM

Originally Posted by West Coast Winner

Well... I'm a physical therapist assistant and a college student for PT. IM NOt A PROFRESSIONAL but here's a little advice.

Your recovery to having a functional chest will take a long time. If you we're an athlete while younger that could help but it's not mandatory by any means. My strategy could have you doing full push-ups within 6 maybe even fewer months. The first thing you need to work is stretching, often and progressively in a more strenuous fashion as flexibility aka ROM (range of motion) improves. At first your going to be very tense and I'm sure it will hurt. Buying heat packs and ice packs are a GREAT idea also a good massage kit to rub your chest to help with pain management and increased blood circulation in your entire chest. Resistance bands can also be useful.

My non professional advice:
Consult a REALLY GOOD even expensive physical therapist or sports med doctor(some suck from my 3 internships).

Start with a heat pack, the larger the better. Cover your whole chest for 10-14 minutes. Make sure it's hot, but be careful because people can be burned badly from these packs. If you need to use extra layers of towels or rags to decrease temp. "Moist heat packs" are the best. Next begin with a series of stretches of your chest and shoulders. Get creative, there's a million ways to stretch your chest. Stretch 3 times a day for 15 minutes each workout. After your workouts use ice packs,for 10-15 minutes, 10 is fine though. And focus on eating healthy. Make sure your getting a high protein and healthy diet. You have a lot of muscle you need to replace. Eating a high calorie diet that's high in protein and includes all your multi vitamins and mineral mixed with some simple stationary bicycle cardio could do you wonders when it comes to healing. Also don't forget plenty of rest. Before I continue typing, let me know what you think so far and ask any questions you ,ay have for me.

Notes:
Can you hold both hands together I front of you and rise them above your head? yes If so, pain? no What kind of pain specifically? i did right front lateral raises with 5 LB's for 72 reps. my pecs hurt near the incision

....

**West Coast Winner** · 05-13-2013, 09:59 AM

Just practice stretching and using of the hot/cold packs and massaging the whole chest. Eventually our goal will be doing pec fly movements with different variations. Once you have built up the confidence and believe your really ready, you could attempt to lift something but for now be very careful.

**austinite** · 05-13-2013, 10:08 AM

My Father had the same issue. He was also told not to lift. I would certainly take that advice. It's probably best to focus on staying lean than building muscle. Enjoy life.

**Far from massive** · 05-13-2013, 07:48 PM

I talked quite a bit with a top hear surgeon at my last job at a tennis/fitness club so let me chime in here. First I don't know if many read the OP's original post but it says he had open chest surgery 3 years ago. So we are not dealing with a standard recovery after surgery issue.

So at this point it sounds like there may have been some damage done during the 2 months after surgery that prevented the chest plate itself from mending completely. The heart specialist whom I spoke with said that if you do not follow the restrictions on lifting etc this can be the outcome at this point nothing short of further surgery and a period of convelescence will allow the plate to become unified.

I would seek out a second medical opinion from someone familiar with these issues to ascertain what is going on and what your options are. I am no doctor but know several people who have had open heart surgery as well as others who have had to have there chest split for other reasons, while none of them are powerlifters all of them could certainly bench 25 lbs no problem, my thoughts are unless your case was in some way unique you probably have some issues that can be taken care of.

Generally after this type of surgery you need to avoid any wieghts over 10 lbs for 2 months or so this is to allow the bones to mend. After that point you can SLOWLY start lifing wieghts ( advancing from 10 lbs say 10%-15% a month) keeping in mind that the CNS and musculature will take another year to recover to a semi normal state ( depending on the state prior to surgery of course ) after this point you should be able to safely lift moderate wieghts no problem just keep them to a wieght you could bench 15 times and only do 8 or so (good advice for anyone 55 who is not in great shape).

Anyhow best wishes on finding out and repairing the problem.

FFM

PS I do agree with Austinites post on it being best to not focus on lifting rather keep your focus on cardio and living long, however after 3 yrs being unable to bench 5 lbs shows a problem that may or may not be repairable allowing you to live a more normal life. Doctors say stay away from lifting since its the one thing that overdone can destroy the chest structure so its just not worth the risk from their standpoint.

**steppenwolf** · 05-13-2013, 09:54 PM

i was told that after being sawed open, ribs are not as strong as they were. i had a 2nd surgery on my lungs

the next day due to complications. i would like to at least be able to bench 10 pounds. other people had torn

pecs and were able to bench 120 pounds. i'm wondering how they did it. i was told that my ribs had mended

by multiple health care professionals.

thank you all for replying.

**MajorPectorial** · 05-16-2013, 07:24 PM

Hey. First of all really hope ur ongoing recovery and general fitness improves for you.

Ive not had open heart surgery but suffer from a quite severe form of s.v.t. superventriculartachaecardia (faste heart beat),

Ive had two attacks where my heart beats at well over 240 beats a minute.

I have had heart surgery by way of a double ablation. Where they infact burn two parts of the heart away in.an attempt too kill the cells of which cause the 'irregular' heart beat. They go via the femoral artery n ur awake through it. Both weird and plain nasty. (Trying to sit up.half way through to see what they are doing is inadvisable, trust me!)

doctors tell me. Dont heavy lift. Dont over excercise. Dont do this u cant do that.

Now, i DO have to be careful, but i self monitor. I know my body. I know how it reacts and interracts with what i put it through. Theres been 2-3 times over the last year or more ive been back in the gym where i thought oh. Ere we go. But i walked n coughed it off n ive been fine. Ive infact had easily.twice the scares, for no.apparent reason not at the gym. The only time i had attacks was once with the kids n the other led in bed, both after long periods WITHOUT atleast moderate exercise.

As to doctors. For all my years up until i had my attack. They ALL said i had nothing AT ALL wrong. Go figure.

Basically what im trying to say. N obviously im by no.means in as serious a position as you is.

1, Some form of exercise is always beneficial.

2, Self monitor. Dovtors can tell you so much. But its YOUR body, it will tell YOU what it can do. Just listen to it.

3, Lastly, it might be tuff to go through. U might have set backs qnd obstacles to defeat. But wity time. And careful.determination youll be surprised what you can achieve.

Good luck!

**steppenwolf** · 05-17-2013, 02:07 AM

thank you ^

**MajorPectorial** · 05-18-2013, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by steppenwolf

thank you ^

Happy to help. You CAN do it. You just "get to try harder"

whichin my books. Puts you ahead BECAUSE its harder. ;-)

**Far from massive** · 05-19-2013, 07:34 AM

Steppenwolf,

Thanks for your post, now I know the medical name for what my God-daughter has. She ( though probably to a much lesser degree than yours) suffers from this kind of issue. When she was 15-16 or so we were in the gym and were working out and she said whew my heart is racing and when I felt her pulse it was so damn quick it "skaierd" the hell out of me. I could not even count it but I am sure it was over 200. Luckily her condition seems to have resolved as she grew up, she is 24 and does zumba now with no issues.

To the OP Glad to hear your plate and rib structure has mended properly, hope you are able to find a phys therapist/sports surgeon etc. who can shed some light on this.

As far as the docs and recovery goes, my story is kinda like Steppenwolfs.
I was taking interferon for HepC and had a bad reaction to it where I suffered a hemmorage in the retinal arteries and optic nerves of both eyes. When this first occured it was like I was wearing glasses that were splashed with motor oil, big ass occlusions in different places in the visual field with chromatic multicolored reflections all over the field of vision....nice! I could not even cross a street safely much less drive. All the docs (went as far as the Washington Eye Center which is considered a premier facility worldwide) said I might see "some" minor improvement during the first month but not to expect much change at all. Well its been about 5 years now and I am working fixing gym equipment....while its a major challenge to see small parts like snap rings and those G-damn tiny ass serial numbers on Life Fitness equipment tags LOL I manage to get it done.

So hang in there be slow and methodical in your approach and do not give up.

FFM