Bending after surgery

[VincySweety]

Hi everybody,

As you know, I'm scheduled to have surgery on June 18. I'm really starting to worry about it more as time goes by. One of the things I was thinking about is the bending after surgery. My surgeon gave me a booklet to read, telling me about the different activities that I can do post-op. With regard to bending this is wat it says:

One month after surgery -> NO BENDING

Three months after surgery -> Bend slightly forward at the waist (no more than 20 degrees)

Six months after surgery -> Bend forward up to 45 degrees

One year after surgery -> Bend fully forward from the waist.

I remember reading in another thread that someone said that you can bend from the waist but you can't bend or twist ur spine itself after surgery. But from reading this it seems like I won't be allowed to bend at all for quite some time. This kinda concerns me, because the other day I tried doing some things without bending and it was really hard, some near impossible... so I'm really wondering how I'm going to manage.

Any thoughts are welcome

[Suzy]

Hi Nadia,

I looked back in your posts and threads you started and couldn't find info as to what levels you are having fused. I personally can bend and twist very well. (I twist better standing up then sitting because my butt isn't stuck in one place.) I am fused T10 to L4. I crawled under a sink last week to fix something and didn't even think about being under it untill I had to get out. I was more concerned about hitting my head!

The restrictions of bending and twisting after surgery are temporary and you won't forget not to do it. Your body won't let you forget.

Just something you and everyone else should know, bending forward at the waist puts THE MOST strain on your lower back then anything else. I learned this from my physical therapist. There was a chart posted with the stress that was put on your back while doing different things. Bending at the waist was the top stress activity. Laying on your side was the least stress. (He has worked with hundreds of post-op scoliosis patients.) I have L5 and S1 to protect so I hopefully won't need to fuse those later on. I don't need to bend forward at my waist, I bend my knees and crouch down. You will Just need to pretend you have a mini skirt on all the time!

I wonder if the booklet your surgeon gave you was for adolescents or adults? You do know at 19 you will heal faster then those of us older don't you? Those time frames may or may not be what you experience. It is not carved in stone, everyone is different. Not bending or twisting in the beginning is something we all had to go through, it goes by pretty fast.
Best wishes.

[sai]

hiya

im now about 9 months post op and am quite comfortable bending forward but choose not to just in case-i tend to bend my knees if i have to pick anything up off the floor and if i do bend from the waist i do it with caution.

After the op you wont have to remember to do things it just kinda seems natural.

All the best

Sai

[lelc2002@yahoo]

I agree, Your body won't want to bend after the operations! I remember my surgeon at 3 months having me bend over from the hips, saying it was fine. I was so scared to do it! I did very carefully! Now at 9 mos. I do bend at the hips still carefully! Ly
fused T-11 to L-5/ Boachie/Kim Aug 2006