Hey iv recently had a severe pilonidal abscess exercised from my lower back/buttock region (horrible thing ahah) and now im left with an open wound that has to be packed and dressed daily. At the moment i can’t really move around a whole heap becuase of the discomfort and pain…so im not sure as to when i can go back to working out? has anyone had any problems with these or know anyone who has that perhaps could enlighten me about when i can go back training?
im not sure weather or not just doing some arm work standing would be ok or something. anything that doesn’t threaten to damage the wound. I don’t particularly like the idea of lying around recovering, though if thats the only option then naturally of course il do so.
My main concern is loosing strength and size an perhaps putting on unwanted fat due to lack of physical activity (im trying to make sure my diet takes care of that issue).
I ask my doctor about it an he said not to go back to serious training for about a month, is that length of time likly to take a toll? iv been training seriously for 1.5 years and have made some decent progress, i just hope that this wont set me back too much.
so yea if anyone has any info about this, they’d like to share it would be greatly appreciated
Ironically I am working with somebody who is at the end of the recovery for having one removed. He ended up having it surgically removed and sutured closed. The biggest thing is not stressing the area of surgery/removal. As I am sure you are experiencing, sitting and laying on your back can be very symptomatic.
I would follow you doctor’s advice. If I remember correctly, the first 2 weeks were no activity at all, then from there progressing into activity that doesn’t stress the area much and does not cause pain. You don’t really want to do any loaded squats, deadlifts, etc until that month mark to make sure the wound area is healed and to not stress it. The last thing you want is to bust open the wound or give some irritation that could cause another cyst or other medical issue.
I would wait the 2 weeks to just let the body recover and heal, then from there progress to some standing upper body lifts, body weight exercises, and cardio as long as none of the exercise selections cause pain at the surgical site. Wait the month and get checked out by the doctor again before looking to perform heavy lifts, especially squats, deadlifts, etc.
[quote]LevelHeaded wrote:
Ironically I am working with somebody who is at the end of the recovery for having one removed. He ended up having it surgically removed and sutured closed. The biggest thing is not stressing the area of surgery/removal. As I am sure you are experiencing, sitting and laying on your back can be very symptomatic.
I would follow you doctor’s advice. If I remember correctly, the first 2 weeks were no activity at all, then from there progressing into activity that doesn’t stress the area much and does not cause pain. You don’t really want to do any loaded squats, deadlifts, etc until that month mark to make sure the wound area is healed and to not stress it. The last thing you want is to bust open the wound or give some irritation that could cause another cyst or other medical issue.
I would wait the 2 weeks to just let the body recover and heal, then from there progress to some standing upper body lifts, body weight exercises, and cardio as long as none of the exercise selections cause pain at the surgical site. Wait the month and get checked out by the doctor again before looking to perform heavy lifts, especially squats, deadlifts, etc.[/quote]
Thanks a lot for that reply…obviously its a bit hard going from training consistantly and being active to lying around on my stomach or side all day, but i agree (unfortunatly) that its obviously best to wait at least until the month mark before i consider any serious training.
A side question, don’t suppose you know how much my strength levels will decrease during this period of recovery? not that i can do a whole lot about it, but just to get an idea perhaps from previous people you may know?
Honestly, it is very hard to say. But in all likelihood, the time off will probably give your body a good recovery period and you may come back and make some real good gains.
The one thing I will recommend is to really look at your diet/caloric intake. You don’t want to take in the same amount that you would during training, but you don’t want to take your baseline amount either. Your body requires more caloric intake to sustain the energy needs to recovery from injury. Taking in the proper amount and nutrients can not only speed up recovery, but spare losing muscle tissue. Precision Nutrition wrote a good article discussing nutrition strategies and injury. (www.precisionnutrition.com/pn_injury.pdf).
[quote]LevelHeaded wrote:
Honestly, it is very hard to say. But in all likelihood, the time off will probably give your body a good recovery period and you may come back and make some real good gains.
The one thing I will recommend is to really look at your diet/caloric intake. You don’t want to take in the same amount that you would during training, but you don’t want to take your baseline amount either. Your body requires more caloric intake to sustain the energy needs to recovery from injury. Taking in the proper amount and nutrients can not only speed up recovery, but spare losing muscle tissue. Precision Nutrition wrote a good article discussing nutrition strategies and injury. (www.precisionnutrition.com/pn_injury.pdf). [/quote]
Thanks a lot for the advice mate. That site too seems useful and very informative, cheers