Will I have to Quit Jiu Jitsu

contact sports

by Tracey_E - 2016-12-16 10:33:17

Did you already get it or are you about to get it? If you didn't get it yet, talk to your surgeon about placement. They can put it lower and deeper so it won't be in your way. 

Rule of thumb, contact sports are not a good idea. Ask ten doctors, get ten answers what *is* ok. Some say no. Some say martial arts are ok but don't spar. Some say go for it. You aren't likely to damage it if you take a direct hit. It's titanium and the leads are flexible and tough, meant to move with us. However, we aren't so tough and a direct hit HURTS. Ask me how I know lol. 

Check out paceguard shirts. They were invented by someone with a pacer who wanted to play sports. 

So, I would say talk to your doctor and proceed with caution. You may consider scaling back, you'll want to for sure take your time getting back into it once you're cleared for exercise again, but you shouldn't have to give it up. 

Exception... if you already have it and your leads are very close to the surface then you'll want to be more careful because the leads could be vulnerable. 

The life you love

by Gotrhythm - 2016-12-16 13:49:48

Tracey's knowledge of pacemakers is far superior to mine, and I feel you should consider carefully what she says, but I would liike to offer a different perspective.

First of all, if I'm reading your post right, you just got your PM this month, so it's early days to be making any decisions about what you can and can't do. It will take about 6 weeks for scar tissue to develop about the PM pocket and around the leads. Scar tissue is what holds the leads in place, and scar tissue is tough. Much tougher than the surrounding tissues. The surgeon also will have allowed for a bit of "play" in the leads so that strectching won't pull them out, and in fact the PM will move with your body.

Let yourself heal at least 6 weeks before undertaking any strenuous movements, but after that take an exploratory approach to exercise. Build up to activity slowly with an emphasis on finding out what you can do, not what you can't.

As Tracey says, if you take a blow directly on the PM, trust me, it will HURT, but it won't harm the PM. We have members who have been able to resume just about any activity you can think of. Consult with your doctor by all means, but don't worry about having to give up what you love.

Thank you for your opinion

by ASandhu645 - 2016-12-17 15:29:54

Hey, thank you for your opinions. I will use a procactive approach to move ahead and see if there is any activity that I cannot do. The Doctor understand's my need to climb, and continue grappling. I got the pacemaker 1 week ago [Dec 2016] and, its placed on top of my left pectoral muscle. It is not imbedded, but im 100% paced/ i was beating 29-44 BPM and now my lower thresh-hold is 60 and ceiling is 150.

The thing is that if I can protect the site a little bit witkh a paceguard, even with it the worst case scenarion is that there will be another persons entire body weight might be on the device [like a knee or elbow] and it might move an inch in any direction. If the pacemaker moves with us there might not be any problem what soever. I will try to not over think this and relax and reintroduce activity after 3- 6 months.

I think that I can start with climbing / start my yoga at 3 months and then move to lightly grappling at 6 months and gather steam from there on out,

Again, thank you for your positeve opinions/ I appreciate your time

With respect and good regard

Adi

ps/

there is scar tissue around the device, but the body dosent connect itself to the device by growing onto it/ does it?

If you have anything else that I sould consider please lemme know

Martial Arts and PAce makers

by Chris100 - 2017-01-03 10:55:08

I had a pacemaker fitted 4 years ago and told I should not do martial arts.  this especially relates to activities and have high shock  ie Sparring and Breakfalls.  I read someone doing a lot of break falls pulled out his leads 3 times and if it happend again would be very dangerous.

However, I continuted taking it easy at first allowing the healing process to happen and built additional strength and muscle around the area.  It was over 12 to 18 months before I started break falls again and light sparring.  I am now testing for my 5th Degree balckbelt and it has not cause me any problems.

It is a case of taking it slowly, listening to your body abd working with the health care professionals and no0t doing anything stupid. Alos make sure you let others around you know about the pacemakers and the limitations.

I love martial arts and will not give it up, but knowing what is safe is important and take one step at a time.