Seatbelt shoulder strap

I just had a battery replacement last week. I was told not to wear the shoulder part of my seatbelt while driving until I am healed. Shouldn't Doctors automatically provide us some document after our surgery that we could show to police officers when/if we are pulled over for what LOOKS like we don't have our seatbelt on (even when we DO have the lap part on)?

8 Comments

There's a lot of things

by Theknotguy - 2014-01-16 01:01:05

There's a lot of things that "ought" to be done but aren't. Personally I'd go for some extra padding until it heals.

Besides if you're in a car accident that requires an upper body restraint you're going to have more problems than reopening a PM insertion wound. Since you may be driving correctly but the other person wasn't I'd opt for the extra padding just in case the worst would happen.

Theknotguy

You have a choice...

by donr - 2014-01-16 01:01:15

...Take a hit in the PM by a properly fastened shoulder strap or do a face plant into an expanding air bag - which, BTW, will also smack the PM site pretty darned hard.

I promise you that the air bag will do more damage to you than the shoulder strap.

Go to an auto parts store or some other place & get a big pad designed to go around the shoulder strap & cushion it where it goes over the PM incision. Cost just a couple dollars & will protect the local area from chaffing. Also - wear a long sleeved shirt/blouse.

Don

never heard of that one!

by Tracey_E - 2014-01-16 02:01:14

Wear your seatbelt! What would hurt worse, the belt pulling on the pm or your face going through a windshield? I never heard of a dr advocating not wearing it.

Battery replacements don't usually leave my very sore, nothing like the first placement. It's all scar tissue.

Check out Amazon..

by Duke999 - 2014-01-16 04:01:10

Like Donr said, you can cushion the seat belt. If you go on Amazon, and put in seatbelt pad, it will give you plenty of choices of products that are reasonably price for this purpose. I have the same problem with seat belt, but this will do the trick. I wish you well.

Duke

I used

by Acin - 2014-01-17 09:01:29

to pull my shoulder strap down just a bit over my ICD. It helped a lot. Of course it would slide back up; but I'd just keep moving it out of the way. The padding works wonderful. My husband has it in his car.

I used a folded

by KAG - 2014-01-17 11:01:42

up hand towel and placed it over my shoulder and down to PM site. Worked fine.

my doc said the same thing

by felyxz - 2014-01-17 12:01:16

I received my pacemakers 2 weeks ago. My doc said the same thing. To use just the bottom strap of the seatbelt until I am healed. I asked about sestbelt cushions and he said I could try that. I went out and bought one. No problems. I rather have that seatbelt there and a little irritation than a bad accident without the seatbelt

Thanks

by StarWish624 - 2014-01-18 11:01:25

I didn't like the feeling of not having the support of the shoulder strap. I decided to use a clothes pin to hold the strap away from the implant, but it could still work in an impact. Thanks for all the answers.
P. S. BOY do I already feel a difference with the newer model. It comes with a home monitoring system that plugs into my phone landline.

You know you're wired when...

You have an excuse for being a couch potato.

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So, my advice is to go about your daily routine and forget that you have a pacemaker implanted in your body.