Post abdominal surgery training

[Don Stevenson]

Just a quick one for the rehab gurus on the board.

I had a laproscopic hernia repair 10 days ago and am now mostly pain free.

I've got to go see the surgeon for a follow up this week or early next week and obviously i'll be following whatever advice he gives me regarding getting back into training but i figured i'd tap into the brains trust here as well.

Has anyone had experience dealing with this sort of injury? If so how long before you were back to lifting max weights?

Having given myself one hernia what are everyones thoughts on wearing a belt for most of my squatting, deadlifting, O lifting training? Personally I'm not a huge fan of wearing a belt but if it reduces the chance of reinjury i'd consider it!

Edit - Just realised I should have posted this in the recovery area with the other injury threads, Greg feel free to move this!

[Garrett Smith]

While I haven't dealt with this personally, my initial suggestion would be to include exercises like hollow rocks and L-sits (tuck sits at the start).

[Pat McElhone]

Your surgeon will most likely give you the advice to avoid exercise for 6 weeks, maybe more if it involves heavy lifting. If they give you other advice, that is great, and you may have found someone willing to "think outside the box".

Even though it was laprascopic, you still have the hernia site itself to think about. Any increase in abdominal pressure my disrupt the tissue integrity, causing the hernia reappear or causing the incision sites to open and a new hernias to appear.

Of course, your should follow your surgeons advice, but it is putting your torso under load and the increased abdominal pressure needed to put your torso under load that is the problem. I do not know if a belt is the answer because even with a belt, you still need to increase abdominal pressure to stabilize the torso.

[Don Stevenson]

Saw the surgeon today and he's given me the all clear to start doing basic stuff like running, rowing and swimming over the next two weeks but to avoid heavy lifting until then.

I explained exactly the sort of stuff i do and he basically said just to build back up to full training over the next month. He's not concerned about the chance of reinjury unless i do something stupid in the next few weeks.

All of this is good news all around!

[sarena kopciel]

Originally Posted by Don Stevenson

Saw the surgeon today and he's given me the all clear to start doing basic stuff like running, rowing and swimming over the next two weeks but to avoid heavy lifting until then.

I explained exactly the sort of stuff i do and he basically said just to build back up to full training over the next month. He's not concerned about the chance of reinjury unless i do something stupid in the next few weeks.

All of this is good news all around!

Great just be careful now and then you have the all clear signal!!