When Can I Start DOING After My Surgery?
I get it. You’ve read the Google results and seen the complications that can happen after surgery. You want to know how to keep yourself safe.
Your doctor says you’re cleared, but you’re not sure exactly what that means. Cleared for what?
And when? And how much?
When can you run?
Swim?
Garden?
The short answer is that it depends.
The long answer is that you have to break the activity down into its parts and look for pressure management and movement compensations.
Here’s an example:
A person I’m working with had a hysterectomy recently. She loves being outside and gardening.
Gardening breaks down into many different components. Kneeling, carrying, twisting, etc.
Gardening for her is also different from gardening for many others. She does landscaping projects involving heavy objects and hours spent shoveling.
Gardening in a small container garden involves the ability to kneel for sustained periods of time, carry light objects, and get off the ground. For it to be surgery-safe, you need:
Core strength to sustain that kneeling and reaching position
Pressure management to get on or off the ground without bearing down on your pelvic floor
Gardening for this client involves:
A higher level of core strength to shovel for a long time
The ability to clear a large yard
She has a much higher level of endurance because she’s gardening for hours every day.
To tell her that she’s "cleared for gardening" would be doing her a huge disservice without understanding what gardening means for her.
So here’s what we’re doing:
Treating raking like interval training: 30 minutes on, rest, and repeat.
I actually watched her hold and manipulate her shovel so we could make sure her core was ready. We chose to wait a week to continue.
Careful instruction on understanding when bearing down on the pelvic floor is happening so she can recognize when it’s time for rest
Simultaneously, she’s strengthening her whole body with movements that she’s ready for. When she’s ready to garden again, her shoulders, wrists, knees, legs, etc. won’t feel "out of shape" from taking a complete 8–12 weeks off from heavy gardening.
Surgeons are experts in performing surgery (thankfully! ), but they are not experts in physical function. If you sprained your ankle, you’d be referred to physical therapy. If you have had major abdominal or pelvic surgery, you should receive the same thing.
Even one appointment with a physical therapist gives you the chance to talk through your lifestyle and break down a truly safe recovery.
If your doctor doesn’t mention it, ask for a referral. If they say you don’t need it, we have direct access in the United States. That means you can reach out to a physical therapist without a referral and make an appointment. Insurance companies are the ones requiring referrals, not the law (because they’d prefer not to pay for it), but many insurance companies will cover services without a physician referral!
Navigating the healthcare system is always a pain in the butt, especially if you need to use insurance. You’re worth it, though!