Help - Too Much Too Soon After Hysterectomy?

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Help - Too Much Too Soon After Hysterectomy?

Help - Too Much Too Soon After Hysterectomy?

Date : 04-28-2003 - 05:51 AM - Readers : 93112

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I'm recovering from my hysterectomy and I feel great! I've heard warnings from others not to do too much too soon but can you tell me what could happen if I did that? What are the risks?

Whether or not you have an abdominal incision with visible staples or stitches, with any type of hysterectomy you will have many (possibly hundreds of) internal stitches. It is this internal healing that can take anywhere from six months to a year to be complete.

If you strain yourself too soon, one of the most catastrophic things that can happen is that you can tear some of your stitches. This can result in bleeding, possibly even hemorrhaging.

There are women who had to go back to the hospital requiring emergency surgery and blood transfusions.

The trouble is, some of the damage you can do in the longer term is harder to detect when you are doing it. When your tissues are healing they are very sensitive to being pulled and squeezed. Scar tissue wants to form wherever there are internal incisions, and if there is even a tiny amount of bleeding inside it can 'stick' areas together that shouldn't be stuck together, with the result that bridges of scar tissue can form between organs or tissues that should not normally be connected.

These areas of scar tissue are called adhesions. In some cases, they can grow over time until they occupy large areas of the pelvis and connect some or all of the organs there, and occasionally they can even grow nerves and their own blood supply. The result can be that every movement pulls on something it shouldn't and causes intense pain.

Sometimes a further surgery can be done to remove these adhesions. Sometimes vital organs are involved to an extent that surgery to remove them would be too dangerous, and then the only solution is a lifetime on pain medication.

Strong, sudden movements (as in some forms of exercise) can cause little tiny tears in the tissue that will promote adhesion formation, whereas slow, fluid movements keep things 'loose' and free. Walking is great, as is slow swimming when weather permits and after the DR has cleared you to be submerged in water (for many of us this is at the six week mark).

You only get one chance to have an uncomplicated recovery, so it's up to you to make the most of it! Look at it this way... you and your surgeon are partners in this. Your surgeon's part was to make sure to do the very best job he/she could do in the OR. Now your part is to make sure you don't undo all that good work. In order for you to have the best possible outcome, you BOTH have to do your parts!

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