post surgery pain - when does it get better?

I had my bivent. PM implanted Monday. The first day was not much of a problem, but since then, I have had quite a bit of pain. I have incisions on both sides, due to failure to thread the leads from the left side. Both sides are painful, but the side with the PM is the most painful, of course, especially in the morning. There is not much swelling, no drainage or redness, just the pain and stiffness. Yesterday I thought there was some improvement, but today I have a feeling it's back to the same pain level. Maybe it's just because it's morning, and I did not sleep as well as last night. Plus I wanted to try to get back to work (office computer work) at least part of the day.

When does it get better? I know it's different for everyone, and probably depends on age and many other factors.

4 Comments

Pain

by mikesmom93 - 2010-01-14 06:01:59

I think it all depends, everybody heals differently. I've always been a fast healer.

For me, I had my ICD implanted on a Monday, went home first thing Tuesday, was totally bored by Thursday, and was back to work on Friday (desk job).

I had very little pain, mostly in the morning, but it got better as the day went on. No need for Tylenol or anything.

I just hit week 7, and am totally back to "normal" ... No pain, 99% of the time I forget it is even there!

But take it easy!! Listen to your body and don't push it!

Melissa

a little better

by realkarl - 2010-01-14 07:01:23

I think it's a little better again today, after all, especially the non-implant side. Still, I stopped by the doctor's office, since the long weekend is coming up, and she said everything looked fine, which was re-assuring to know.

She also told me the pacer was well placed under the pectoral muscle, which I had asked for due to backpacking and other activities. I had no basis for comparison, so I was glad to learn this as well. I have read healing can be a little slower with such placement.

Finally, I learned that my procedure not only had been complicated due to having to switch sides, but the EP also had some trouble stopping the bleeding. This was probably due to formation of new vessels after my OHS six months ago. Maybe this contributes to longer healing and extra pain as well.

In any case, thanks for the replies. I am feeling better this afternoon, and will patiently wait for each incremental improvement.

Pain

by cfritza - 2010-01-14 12:01:18

It took about 2weeks-but everyday was a little better.My incision site is tender occassionally and I've had mine for 3 months. At your incision check up if it doesn't feel better maybe you should tell them. My incision check up was a week later. Hope this helps

Sleep on it

by FirstDuely - 2010-01-15 05:01:46

I've had 8 replacements over 23+ years and what I found is that it does take awhile for the tissues around the pm to settle in. Meanwhile, I would wake up at night having rolled over onto the side with the pm causing pain so I'd have to roll back over to the other side and go back to sleep. The next day there usually was some pain but over time (as stated above) it decreases. Now I can sleep on that side with no problems. Try placing a pillow on the pacer side behind your shoulder so it prevents you from rolling over on that side. I would agree that your complications might increase the pain and how long it takes to get back to normal.
Gary

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