How to build up your fitness after hysterectomy – Karen ’ s story

Before my operation, apart from having some large fibroids and anemia, I was pretty fit and had good core stability. I believe that having good core stability is the key to success as you can work all the other parts of your body whilst your abdomen stays still. The day after my operation I started doing the basic Pilates warm up exercises in my bed, even with the catheter in, just to keep all my joints mobilised. Days 1 – 14 I increased the amount of Pilates exercises I was doing and was outside walking for at least 20 minutes twice a day. I never took any painkillers before I exercised so that I would know if I was over doing it. I did get some abdominal pain whilst walking, but if I sat down (on a chair, log or wall, not the ground) it would disappear within 5 minutes. Days 15 – 21 saw the most dramatic improvement. I was doing most of the basic pilates mat exercises except for the ones which are performed in the prone position (lying face down) as this put too much pressure on my still swollen abs. However these can be done standing up although your back muscles don’t work so hard. I also started swimming and by keeping my abs contracted to support my spine I was able to swim for 20 minutes with no problems. Although initially the scar felt it was pulling the feeling was short lived. I swam front crawl most of the time but was able to swim breast stroke and back crawl. I had also increased the length of time I spent walking to an hour each day but I was ...
Source: The Hysterectomy Association - Category: OBGYN Authors: Tags: Health exercise fitness hysterectomy stories Source Type: news