Pain...

Hiya,
I have been having Pacemakers since the age of 9.
I am on my 3rd Pacemaker, however, have been operated on 5 times due to issues after surgery in the 2nd and 3rd replacement operations.

I have been told there is a lot of scar tissue in the area the boxes have been.
I also suffer now with a lot of pain in the area.
Has anyone else had several operations and also has any pain issues?

Do you have any advice on how to ease the pain etc...

I imagine in time the hospital will locate the Pacemaker in another area, but I am only 31 now so they use the same position for as long as possible.
Thanks for any feedback,

Paddy :-)

3 Comments

pockets

by Tracey_E - 2013-06-06 01:06:54

Try heat or ice for relief, see which feels best.

I had the same problem, the scar tissue built up and started to ache all the time after my 3rd replacement. I didn't want to move the whole thing because 1) it's nicely buried and I like it that way and 2) don't mess with working leads, I plan to be paced for a lot more years so if it ain't broke don't fix it. When I had my last replacement, we got a plastic surgeon to clean up the scar tissue and rebuild the pocket. Now it feels great again.

Under the muscle pain

by CourtHerbert - 2013-06-07 11:06:53

Hey!
I had my 4th pacemaker put in over a year ago ( I was 15 years old ) and I still experience pain in my shoulder/chest. It feels sour and heavy especially when I'm driving for some reason. If you had your pacemaker put in under the muscle, that is probably the cause to the discomfort. I've found that exercise has really helped. It's made that muscle stronger and it doesn't ache as much. Just make sure to not over do it.

leads

by Paddy P - 2014-02-03 09:02:01

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Do you know how long 'leads' can last?

You know you're wired when...

You get your device tuned-up for hot dates.

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