What to Do When Returning to Sports After Surgery

Whether you’ve undergone a life-changing medical procedure or you’ve simply gone under the knife for a cosmetic surgery change, figuring out when you can begin to get back to your normal routine can be tricky.

With more and more people entering into treatments to get their bodies functioning in the way they want, it can be hard to judge when it’s right to get back to exercising. Whilst the majority of people get prepared for the build-up before their surgery, it’s often the recovery period that becomes difficult for people. With contradicting information and stories from friends, doctors or what they’ve read online, it can be hard to know just what’s best for you. Often people rushing back too soon causes issues with the treatment which in hand creates a misplaced Cosmetic Surgery Solicitors case, when in fact it is their own wrong doing. That is why it is so important to make sure you go back at the right time. Therefore, if you’re one of those people then try to follow these simple steps so you can return back to exercise when you should!

Speak to Your Doctor

The most obvious point to start off with, your doctor advice. They should always be your first port of call for guidance returning when you can return to sport. They’ll have the experience and exact knowledge of your surgery so they’ll be best advised to give you a good idea of when you can return to exercise. The weeks following your surgery are not the best time to start hitting it hard at the gym or starting a new routine so when you do look to get back, start light and start easy as you’ll need to re-build.

In the first 48 hours after your surgery, you shouldn’t be doing any physical activity at all, regardless of what you’ve had done. Following this period, you can begin introducing short periods of physical activity to your day. To keep yourself active, try introducing a few 5-minute walks into your day. As the weeks pass, you can increase the number of walks and the length of each walk, depending on your surgery type. After six weeks, you should ask your doctor about resuming a lighter version of your old exercise routine.

Don’t Go Too Hard Too Soon

Although you may read something about what you should exactly do, there are no set rules when it comes to the return date. Despite having the same exact procedure as ‘Dave’, who’s the same age as you, people recover at different rates so what applies to him, won’t apply to you. That’s why you should take every you read – including this piece – as a guideline, rather than a fixed instruction. If 5 minutes of walking is too tasking to begin with, reduce the duration or speed to a more comfortable rate that works for you. Pushing yourself too hard too soon could lead to complications that may have a negative impact on the outcome of your surgery.

Take for example, breast augmentation. This is a type of cosmetic surgery that offers different recovery periods based on the individual. When it comes to breasts, a lot women fail to abide by the recovery period restraints when they are limited in their movement and flexibility. Actually performing stretches as advised and not ignoring them will help to loosen your movement in your back, arms, shoulders and chest. Put simply, you should not be trying to start back where you left off. Be realistic, you’re going have to start again for the first few weeks and months following your surgery unless you want to risk complications, which won’t be covered by breast implant claims.

So whether it’s breast, knee or muscle surgery, always return to sport with caution, and listen to your body every step of the way. The worst thing you can do is rush your recovery so even if you are dying to get back, you will only make things worse!