Post Surgery Pain

[palzsy1]

Hello,
I had an AVR on Oct. 19,2004. I have had such unbearable muscle pain in my neck and running up the left side of my head by my ear. Don't know if I pulled a muscle or what. Have been to Dr. since and he has put me on Valium and Ultracet. Still when i move my arms my muscles just tighten up. My incision and chest feel fine. Would be doing real good except for all this shoulder and neck pain. Also get auro's almost daily. Was wondering if anybody experienced any of this. It is even making it difficult for me to walk cause my muscle tighten up when I do. Have tried ice and heat. Any suggestions would be very welcome. I am 49 and in good health thought this would be a breeze.

Thanks,
Palzsy

[geebee]

Hi Palszy,
Is this pain constant? If not, can you actually make it happen? I know after my second surgery, I had pain in the muscles of my upper chest that did radiate upwards. The surgeon said that when they open the skin of the chest, they suture it to each side. Sometimes the sutures can be deep enough to irritate the muscles. My pain subsided but it was many weeks of gradually less pain. You might try massaging the upper chest muscles when you are not having pain to see it you can cause the pain. If so, then you may have identified the problem and can then aske your cardio or surgeon if it may be from sutures.
As far as the auras go, were you on Inderal prior to surgery and then taken off for a few days? I was on Inderal prior to each of my surgeries and, in addition to Inderal helping my heart rate, it also made my migraines less severe. In fact, Inderal is used as a migraine preventer. When I was taken off Inderal for a few days just prior to surgery and after, I had the worst migraines of my life. I always get auras with my migraines so maybe there could be a connection. In fact, my cardio said some people who never had migraines but were taken off Inderal, actually experienced the first migraines of their life after OHS. Perhaps that is what is causing your auras.
Also, some people do experience cerebral symptoms after OHS because tiny clot material can travel through the body. That may also be causing the auras. You should really ask your cardio about them if you haven't.
I am glad to hear you are not having much problems with your incision or any chest discomfort. You are lucky for that so soon after surgery. I hope your recovery continues well in that area.
So happy to have you in the forums - welcome.
Smiles, :) :)
Gina

[bvdr]

Welcome! I had problems with auras very frequently after surgery as well. I had been having migraines( but no headache with it)for many years but not very often. I got one the day after surgery and very very frequently for a while. Once I got rid of some of the extra fluid things calmed down a bit. I have been put on verapamil to help prevent them and it seems to have helped.

I'm sorry you are having so much muscle pain. I didn't have that. Others seem to have had though and they will be around before too long.

I hope your recovery smooths out and you soon are able to enjoy your fixed up heart.

[labguides]

Would physical therapy help your pain? Perhaps those muscles are in spasm. Our daughter needed PT after surgery so she could re-gain use of her right arm. She was holding it so tightly to her side and was afraid to use it.

Auras -- our daughter has had them post-op. I don't know if she is still having them. At 8 months, post-op, she told the cardio that she was having them 3-5x a week. The cardio was not concerned.

[Shine_on_Syd]

Yes I had pain for a over a year. It has finally gone away. I had the visual auras for almost a year too and they have gone away. Luckily my gym has a Jacuzzi and that helped with the pain. The best thing for the auras for me is Tylenol.

[hensylee]

Hey, Pal - when we are on the table for surgery, they have our bodies, especially the shoulders, in strange positions. It could be that this is part of your problem and it may go away in time. Some have complained of shoulder and back pain and it seems this might be the cause. I think that when our body is in these unnatural positions damage can occur and only time, and sometimes therapy, helps. If it hangs around too long, let your doctor know. Blessins

[Monty]

I have neck and back pain. I also have headaches starting from the back of my neck and running up my head. I have found the more that I lay around the stiffer I get and more my head hurts. i have been staying on my feet most of the day and staying active. This has really helped. I just make sure that I listen to my body when to rest. By doing this I also rest better at night. Hopes this helps. Each day will get better.

[Nancy]

There are many, many threads here about neck and back pain post surgery. If you do a search, it might bring some of the archived ones up. You have plenty of company. And for whatever reason, most don't get much help from their doctors who seem to not know what has caused this, but lots of folks here have figured it out. ;)

When you're on the table sleeping so nicely, they are positioning your body for the maximum view into your chest cavity, and that means pulling your arms WAY back and possibly even tying them that way for quite a while. That's the main reason most here have so much shoulder and neck pain. It does get better after a while, but this can linger on longer than you would want. You are fairly fresh out of surgery as this kind of surgery goes, so you have a way to go yet. You can call your surgeon and ask about some gentle stretching exercises which seem to have helped others with this kind of pain.

Can't help you with the auras, but you have already had some good advice on that subject.

[ALCapshaw2]

Hello Palzsy,

Many surgeons provide a sheet with stretching exercises to do to relieve muscle pain. Cardiac Rehab is also a BIG help if your insurance will cover it. If not, go visit a class and ask the nurses for copies of their recommended exercises.

I found that MASSAGE (a vibrating disk massager) provided MUCH BETTER and FASTER Relief than pain pills from occasional INTENSE Back Muscle pain. I also took extra strength Tylenol which helped after the massage reduced the intensity to a tolerable level.

Hope this helps you too.

'AL'