I had my left styloid removed on 7th June and wasn’t given much post surgery advice.
I was just wondering if anyone can please advise on when I can possibly expect to be able to restart the below:
Cardio exercise & weight training (obviously restarting slowly)
Neck stretches, Pilates, yoga
General chiropractic care - adjustments to the thoracic spine/hip area
Chiropractic neck adjustments (the kind where they click the cervical vertebrae back into place)
Many thanks.
Not a medical opinion at all, just based on my own recovery…I would say 3 months for cardio & weight training, probably 2 months for the yoga, maybe 2 months for chiropractor other spine adjustments, but 3 months at least for anything to do with the neck & only if they’re familiar with ES & the surgery you’ve had…
There’ll likely be internal stitches which need to heal with the surgery, no more than with a surgery like C Section, and the nerves can take months to heal, so if you start exercising too quickly you could aggravate that healing. It’s hard to be patient but worth it in the long run!
If others have any input based on their experience hopefully they’ll chip in!
I would check with your doctor to be sure, but for me, I was told by Dr Hackman I could resume everything you mentioned 2 weeks after (as long as there were no complications). That felt really soon for me, so I waited on most things.
I definitely don’t think neck adjustments would be a good idea that soon since you’re still healing. I started walking for exercise at 2 weeks, doing light cardio at 3 weeks and waited to resume weights until about 6 weeks, just because I know my body was still recovering and I didn’t want to push it. I was also careful with upper body workouts.
Hello,
I also had my left styloid removed along with the C1 shave around the same time that you did (mine was 6/3). I just had a follow up visit this past Thursday & the doc gave me an order to start physical therapy within the next week or so. My spinal accessory nerve was significantly entangled with my IJV. I have heard that generally the docs recommend about a month before doing much that affects the neck area. I would definitely start slowly with just some low key cardio at first. I have done walking and riding an exercise bike. The doctors recommended walking and just now, starting some very light self massage around the neck area. I would imagine that you would be able to do more sooner than I if you just had a straight styloidectomy with no major nerve involvement or other complications. I would also be very careful regarding neck stretches or movements just to make sure all the internal stiches have healed up. If you’d like, I can let you know what PT says once I have my appointment with them. Hope you have a great recovery!