3 1/2 weeks post hysterectomy: Swelling After Walking

Hi everyone-

I am noticing that I have more swelling after I do my daily walks. I use the ice pack when I get back home. I live in a hilly area and am walking down and up some not to steep hills. I walk for about 20-25 minutes once per day and am hoping to go up to twice a day. Am I doing to much? Any tips on how to do walking without swelling or is that just part of the recovery process? Thanks in advance for your help!

That is swelly belly for you.
It does mean you are overdoing things a bit, you are still healing inside. It takes a good 6 weeks to do your initial healing and with some women it takes longer.
Your internal stitches will be dissolving now and up until 6-8 weeks post op. you can ahve some pains and discharge with that.
just be aware lf that.
The swelling will dissipate. You will be able to walk more, its just good to be aware that you are still healing.
Take care

I swelled everytime I did anything, and of course I couldn't do nothing. I did not worry about the swelling, it is pretty normal and many people have it even if they haven't done anything. If I wasn't tired and didn't hurt, I walked despite the swelling.

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Originally Posted by Minervacat1 Hi everyone- I am noticing that I have more swelling after I do my daily walks. I use the ice pack when I get back home. I live in a hilly area and am walking down and up some not to steep hills. I walk for about 20-25 minutes once per day and am hoping to go up to twice a day. Am I doing to much? Any tips on how to do walking without swelling or is that just part of the recovery process? Thanks in advance for your help!

As you start to do more, it is common to have more swelling. You are very early in your recovery and it is important to listen to your body. Swelly Belly is very much a part of this recovery and can hang around for a while. in there . . . it will get better. Remember that we are here for you.

Best wishes on your continued recovery.

Thank you for your replies Coughy16, Steff33 and BKFrank. Since I typically do a lot of walking, I think I am trying to walk farther than my body wants to go right now. I think I will slow down a bit. Also I just downloaded an App to track miles so I can work up more slowly. I get frustrated with the slower pace, and slower walking stride too. I am a tall gal and typically walk very fast. I notice I don't have my typical gate back, and still am not standing up as strait when walking as I did prior to surgery. I kind of feel like I am walking like a crab. . Nevertheless, the swelling is telling me slow down which is exactly what I am going to do. Thank you all again for your help!

for listening to your body while it is still whispering to you.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by Minervacat1 Hi everyone- I am noticing that I have more swelling after I do my daily walks. I use the ice pack when I get back home. I live in a hilly area and am walking down and up some not to steep hills. I walk for about 20-25 minutes once per day and am hoping to go up to twice a day. Am I doing to much? Any tips on how to do walking without swelling or is that just part of the recovery process? Thanks in advance for your help!

I live in a hilly area too. By the end of my second week I could walk a mile in 15 minutes on the flat and was getting really tired of having to stay in my own neighbourhood, so I started practicing going up and down steep hills. I was finally able to walk to the supermarket and buy more yogurt, woo-hoo!

I had my post-op appointment at four weeks. By then I was going for 1-2 hour walks on hilly, wooded trails in a park near my home. My doc checked me out and cleared me not only to keep walking but also to swim, jog and bike, so I guess I hadn't damaged anything. :-)

My attitude towards swelly belly was much like coughy16's. It always went away overnight and I wasn't in any pain or even discomfort.

I'd had previous experience with a knee injury after a bike accident some years ago. Although my incision healed quickly, my knee remained swollen for about six weeks. I was told that this was due to traumatized tissues and that I should remain active and keep trying to bend the knee.

So I looked at my swelly belly and said, yup, traumatized tissues again!

Try to take shorter walks more often and see if that works for you. My surgery was in the winter, so I did 10 minute walks around the house about every two hours. A short walk always felt good! Don't overdo.

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Originally Posted by Jan1014 Try to take shorter walks more often and see if that works for you. My surgery was in the winter, so I did 10 minute walks around the house about every two hours. A short walk always felt good! Don't overdo.

Thank you for the advice! What has been working for me is to walk twice a day. I am now up to about 1.5 miles 2X a day. If I try to do all in one walk-I get more swelly. Over all the swelling is better now at 5 weeks, but it is still there and I am still taking Advil regularly. I feel I need to reasonably try to push through-perhaps get up to 2 miles 2X per day so I will be ready for the long working hours when I go back in about three weeks. Again I really appreciate the replies and support!!

Wow! It sounds like you are doing well! I had swelly belly for a long time after the surgery. It was over a year before I could wear jeans again- and I lost 20 pounds! I could have never walked a mile that soon. I found that if I did too much, it took me a couple of days to rest and recover, so I eventually decided to not be so hard on myself. Around five weeks I started going to the gym and walking on the treadmill. It was nice because I could set it slow and hold on to something! So I guess my advice to you is that it's better to recover successfully than reach a goal. Listen to your body. You are doing well!