This site may contain third-party advertisements and links to third-party sites. At 3 months after surgery, the SternaLock Blu Study found that 41% of SternaLock Blu patients had sufficient bone healing versus only 16% of patients treated with wires. I had my... By entering this site you declare You probably shouldn't be in pain. What a story. In the incision? I was born with TOF. Now you should have had a follow up with the surgeon or will do shortly. By 8 months, we flew to Europe, no problems. In some types of surgery, the sternum is cut apart to allow the surgeon to open the rib cage. And then you can start lifting light hand weights ... start at 2 lb ... lift them straight up in front of you slowly to shoulder height, then slowly swing out to your side, then back and down. Jake writes to me, “Dear Adam – It’s been 2 years since my aortic valve replacement operation.While my heart is doing great, I still have a very sensitive incision. If the keloid scar is becoming painful, you should talk with your doctor. To alleviate this pain, it is helpful to have a cough buddy (some sort of pillow which is often provided by your hospital). You will always have some strange sensations. It will hurt with every breath you take, every sneeze you sneeze, every cough you cough and every laugh you laugh. Dale writes, “Hi Adam – I had my surgery on November 2, 2009. This includes at least a day in the intensive care unit immediately after the operation. A person undergoing open heart surgery will need to stay in the hospital for 7 – 10 days. The surgeon replaced my bicuspid aortic valve (with a bovine tissue valve), the root aorta, and grafted a large piece of my ascending aorta. I am four months post surgery, and they cut horizontally under the breast line. I know that acetemenophine is not good to take all the time. Q: I am a 61 years old male underwent a bypass (left internal mammary artery, LIMA) surgery 14 months back. The chest bone is the slowest part of the healing process. Had a cat scan done Jan of this year. At the same time, the ribs are spread and tissue and muscle in the chest wall is stretched and becomes highly inflamed, hence the fluid build up ... your body sends lymph to the area to help healing but sometimes sends way too much and it must be drained away. Open heart surgery usually requires that your cardiac surgeon divide your sternum to gain access to your heart and surrounding structures. Providing easy-to-understand information about your medical concerns. I feel fine except for the pain associated with the broken sternum. Thanks for your info maybe next May which will be 12 mos it will be better. Can You Get Angina Chest Pain Several Months After CABG? (2017, June 7). She had a triple heart bypass surgery a year and a half ago. Yup your chest wall is going to take a LONG time to heal and may in fact never quite feel the same. It hurts and it will hurt until the sternum heals. Outside of the scars, there will be no reminder of the surgery. The content on this site is meant for information and guidance only, not for diagnosing or treating medical conditions. I still have dreadful pain in my breasts after open heart surgery. Hi everyone, I am new here and will be having a mitral valve repair (hopefully) or replacement on October 17th. The bones of the rib cage provide a strong but elastic container for the heart and lungs, which need to be able to move while they function while still being protected from impact. Outside of the scars, there will be no reminder of the surgery. I did suffer another medical issue on January 2nd, as I was diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer, and had my Thyroid removed on Febrruary 3rd. I. I have weaned myself from taking the Hydrocodone about 2 weeks ago, and just take Extra Strength Tylenol for the discomfort. After 5 weeks one of the screws came loose. Infections. Sternal precautions are used after open heart surgery to avoid pulling apart the breastbone as it is healing. Had a chest xray at three months to rule out pneumonia / bronchitis. They were coming through my skin. I had the normal surgery and to be absolutely honest, I didn't feel pain from the surgery even 2 days after. It occasionally hurts today like an electric shock. Most people are able to fully recover from a broken sternum in a few months, the average recovery time being 10 and a half weeks. “Chest wall pain after cardiac surgery may normally last 3-6 weeks, but may last as long as 12 weeks on rare occasions,” says Dr. Michael Fiocco, Chief of Open Heart Surgery at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, one of the nation’s top 50 heart hospitals. Mostly I feel pretty good. When you're released from the hospital, you'll get a set of instructions for post-surgery care. I just received a very interesting question from Jake about chest pain, sternum wires and heart valve surgery. “Post-op pain is also related to movement, coughing, and normally can be reproduced with palpation of the chest wall, none of which occur with ischemic pain (angina).”. At first I took 2 regular strength tabs every 4 hours, but getting regular strength is strangely difficult So I changed to taking 1 extra strenth every 3 for a couple weeks and then 2 at night. The sensitivity will subside ... by 3 months things will be usually quite bearable. I am trying exercisr with 3 lb weights to try to strenthen my chest muscles so far no good. I had my surgery 5 weeks ago and didn't expect to be in so much pain at this point. Interesting ... something tells me I'd be finding a different surgeon! So, essentially all that work on the chest wall causes lots of discomfort. I ended up adding Lidocaine patches to the Norco I was already on. I'm going on 3 years and still have pain. During heart surgery, the sternum is split to provide access to the heart. The recovery process uses emotional and physical energy. To ask someone is always nice, so I don't start thinking "it's just me". A man aged 84 years presented to his general practitioner (GP) with new, recurrent chest pains over the past fortnight, which started 10 weeks after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Had a graft on my ascending aorta,& a stent put in my ascending aorta. She is a diabetic and is on insulin. It was just operated on; chest pain is to be expected. After a week, I went home and the acetaminophen was weened to 2 regular strength 3 times daily, and 1 hydromorphone at night. Don't really remember any chest pain. If you are on long-term opioids, you should meet with your prescribing physician to begin to wean down to the lowest dose possible before surgery. The sensitivity of the chest, the pain in the chest and both legs, the numbness in the legs and left hand (it still is 90 days after surgery), challenges of showering, walking with chest brace etc all took a huge effort. After three months I could run for half an hour, no problems. My surgeon went in and removed them, I do have to be careful with one area. Individuals who ha… I do set off metal detectors. Then the same, but lifting out to the side ... swing to your front, back and down. in the mean time it hurts to even take plates out of the cabinet! Answers from hundreds of doctors about benign to serious symptoms. After the bypass surgery, the surgeon reattaches the sternum, which is bone, using wire. And that was because of the pain in my leg where they removed the vein for the graft! After surgery, the sternum needs to be firmly wired back together to hold it while the patient heals. 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