Daily Yoga practice and Pacemakers

I am 48 and I had my first PM installed in May 2006 and a new dual chamber PM installed when I broke my first lead in 2009. Now I need lead extraction surgery because my atrial lead is broken. I am quite worried because they will be removing 2 leads this time (last time they left a broken lead in place) and I understand that this can be quite risky. Any advice that anyone has about this kind of surgery is greatly appreciated. I also wondered if anyone has advice about practicing yoga with a pacemaker. I really love doing it every day and because I seem to be breaking a lot of leads, I wonder if I should stop. Exercising is super important to me and nothing quite gives me the same satisfaction for strength and flexibility. I already stopped taking dance classes at my doctor's request.


8 Comments

Asanas

by somehow - 2013-02-10 10:02:03

I can only tell you what I would.

I would learn which asanas cause the most stress to the leads and modify or eliminate them after review with my doctor.

Namaste


Yoga practice

by Matabar - 2013-02-10 10:02:53

Hi Sandy,
I'm a yoga teacher and have had a daily practice for decades. I just got my dual chamber PM last year and I notice that certain asanas cause too much pulling on the PM area. Floor bow, camel and others that stretch the front chest a lot have been problematic.
I simply didn't do any of those postures for a while and then slowly started doing a modified version...and I do mean slowly. Over a period of months, not days or weeks. I am able to do these postures now, but I can't go nearly as deep as I used to. I would say, do the best you can and be patient. Go ahead and go for it with all other postures. Focus on what you can do, not what you can't do! Carol

thank you!

by sandy529 - 2013-02-10 11:02:03

Great advice you guys. Thanks so much. Glad to hear that I shouldn't give up especially!

I was asking the same thing !

by lahbigbro6 - 2013-02-11 09:02:13

Hello Sandy, I was asking the same thing..my 2nd pacemaker location is different than my 1st. Its alittle higher. For some reason, not sure why, I was more careful with exercise moves than the 1st pacemaker. Now I am mad at myself because my range of motion is not as good. So, I am slowing getting back. Good luck with your yoga.

placement

by Tracey_E - 2013-02-11 09:02:46

When you have your new one placed, make sure the surgeon knows that you are active and plan to continue yoga. Sometimes putting it a bit lower and deeper can make it easier to exercise as you want.

As for risk, extraction surgery has come a LONG way in the last few years. More surgeons are very experienced at it, the sheaths they use have improved. Just make sure your surgeon is experienced, or ask for a referral to someone who is. If you do a search, there are quite a few posts from members who have been through it with no problems.

about leads

by cb - 2013-03-03 06:03:09

...how does one break a lead? I dont want to do that!

More about leads

by boochance - 2015-02-01 01:02:27

My daughter is pressuring me to do yoga to improve my overall fitness. I have had a PM for 5 years and my doctor says I am his easiest patient in that I have never broken a lead or had to call him for anything since I had it put it. I am a 75 year old woman in good health and do normal things, housework, work in yard, walk well but because I am concerned about breaking a lead I don't do many exercises or especially yoga. After reading what these yoga people say about breaking leads I am even less inclined to try it. Also I used to have massages and miss not doing that but I won't any more because of PM. It seems to me that the people who break their leads are done so by exercise. I wish I could do more but am glad that my PM keeps me alive.

Chair yoga maybe

by gbarger - 2016-08-25 20:10:06

Chair Yoga might be more appropriate.  I teach chair yoga and also have a pacemaker, and you can get good benefits from either a gentle standing mat class or a seated chair yoga class.  Silver Sneakers, if you have that at your gym, might have the Silver Sneaker YogaStretch format too.

 

Hope this helps

Gail  - teaching for over 15 years.

You know you're wired when...

You always have something close to your heart.

Member Quotes

I've seen many posts about people being concerned about exercise after having a device so thought I would let you know that yesterday I raced my first marathon since having my pacemaker fitted in fall 2004.