So Friday will be 6 weeks since surgery. I have a few questions. My glue is finally gone and my incision looks good, but it's really itchy. Does anyone know if I can use hydrocortisone itch cream on it? I can use vitamin e oil but it doesn't do a lot for the itch. I am doing ok. I'm still pretty tired alot. I'm not lifting anything very heavy still, I can feel it pulling in my head if I lift a whole gallon of milk so I just don't do it. i'm just wondering how much i should push myself to do things. Dr. Tew will be asking if I'm walking and getting my heart rate up when i go back on Monday. I haven't been. I didn't do it before surgery. Until this week I was afraid to walk too far away from anywhere because I didn't know if I could make it back. I still get weak shaky spells. So what things should I really be doing at 6 weeks? Or still not doing? I don't want to over do it but i dont want to lay around like a big weenie when I should be doing more.
The hydrocortisone cream should be fine if the incision has closed...to be safe you might want to call the nurse, Nancy. She was a huge help to me as I actually had an allergic reaction to the glue. In my case I was allowed to use the cream along with Benadryl and that was 2 weeks post-op.
At 6 weeks I was pretty fatigued still. I basically took walks around the block once a day or if someone in the family was going shopping I might walk around a few stores with them. My neck was still tight and stiff so I tried to do my neck exercises regularly. I was originally scheduled to return to work at 6 weeks but I asked for another 2 off because I was so tired and I had some swollen lymph nodes (I have chronic mono). At 8 weeks I was still tired but able to work.
As for lifting I didn't really try lifting anything heavy for a couple of months. I was just too scared! I did start doing some lightish weight lifting around 3 months post-op but even now at 7 months I find lifting any weight overhead causes neck issues.
Everyone heals at a different rate so just go easy on yourself...only you know what you feel capable of, not the doctor! Take the doctors guidance of course but always listen to your body first!
I understand your NS wants you to get your heart rate up, but I think you should take the lead from how you are feeling. I know every NS has a timeline but I don’t think the timeline fits every pt. my NS told me I would know immediately (post op) if my surgery worked or not… In actuality it took 2.5 months for the chiari headache to subside. He also told me I would be ready for work at 4 weeks. Again, not the case for me. I wasn’t able to go back until 2.5 months. I personally can’t imagine doing cardio right now, just watering my plants drains me, and if I’m not careful and do too much physical activity my before surgery symptoms creep back in. Your only gonna get one opportunity to recover from this surgery I think you should only “push yourself” when it feels truly right.