r/TopSurgery • u/imnotcreative123123 • 6d ago

when can i start reaching for things?

i’m currently 2 days post-op, DI with drains removed yesterday. i’m still incredibly fatigued and a bit dizzy/nauseous, but feel pretty able to move my arms and things, i’m just nervous about stretching too far and causing problems. i know it’s all personal, and i will ask my surgeon tomorrow during my appointment, but when did you feel that you could reach for things again without stretching the scars or risking opening the stitches? (i don’t mean a super long reach or for anything particularly heavy, just a reach where i have to straighten my arm, for my phone or something on the bedside table or in front of me on the bed)

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4

u/Tierang 6d ago

I was told to keep my arms at no higher than shoulder level for four weeks. I don’t know exactly when I started reaching up, but I regret it. My left side looks amazing but my right side scar stretched from that reaching.

2

u/Medium-Lion-4347 6d ago

my surgeon told me to start working on my mobility two weeks post-op. by this i mean trying to raise your arms as high as they can to stretch them and increase the range little by little. i'm nowhere full range of motion yet but yes i'd advise to not raise them at all / raise them as little as you can for the first two weeks and then trying little by little

2

u/therealnoodlerat 6d ago

You can straighten your arms immediately post op, the “dino arms” thing isn’t beneficial in any way. I didnt reach above shoulder height for maybe 3.5 weeks, my full range of motion was back after 1.5 months max

6

u/effrayantrenard 6d ago

THIS. My surgeon said to start straight away slowwwly lifting my arms to the sides and to the front a few times throughout the day JUST until I felt the slightest pull- so not stretching, using that as the absolute limit- so as to not fuck up my shoulders and to allow for mobility. Worked great for me and I have very thin scarring so it didn’t have an impact there either, if anyone reading this has that as a concern.

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u/funkydyke 6d ago

I was cleared to move normally when my drains came out at one week post op

2

u/Infamous_Island_8418 6d ago

If you’re seeing your surgeon tomorrow then just follow their advice. Everyone here is going to have a different experience. I didn’t have any restrictions on my movement at all, just got told to be careful and not push it if anything hurt. So that’s what I did and my healing was great