Mobility

I had my pacemaker installed on June 23 2016. I was told not to extend my left arm straight up or out. Can someone let me know when it is safe to do so, as I am left-handed and some actions are automatic. I do not want to cause any damage.

1 Comments

varies

by Tracey_E - 2016-07-20 14:17:28

After the first 24-48 hours, it's just precaution. Doctors vary anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months, average is 6 weeks. My doc used to say 6 but when I had my last replacement earlier this year I noticed the sheet now says 2.

There was a study recently that patients with no restrictions had not more incident of dislodged leads than patients with traditional rstrictions. It makes sense, the leads are not put in tight. There is plenty of slack between where they come out of the vein and where they connect to the device, so no amount of moving the arm will put stress on them at the other end in the heart. 

And everyone breaks the rules by accident and raises their arm at least a few times! No big deal.

You know you're wired when...

You can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’.

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