Golf

I am a healthy 64 Golf fanatic with a very active lifestyle that had a Pacemaker implanted 31/2 weeks ago.  My cardiologist suggested that I could return to full Golf activities after 4 weeks.  So far everything has gone well and I have been able to swing 1/2 speed with no issues.  I am a 6 Index Golfer with a near 100mph driver swing speed.

My question is does anybody else have expierience playing Golf after 4 weeks?  Most of the posts I see on this Fourm seem to suggest 6 weeks.  Dont want to tear up my leads but also anixous to play again.

Cheers!


6 Comments

It's your body , but ............. have patience !

by IAN MC - 2021-01-14 12:54:45

First of all, I envy you the problem that you have as, here in the UK, all golf courses have been closed down as part of our current Covid lockdown.

I have read lots of posts on here about resuming golf but I haven't read of anyone admitting to playing a round with a full swing at 4 weeks

There is good reason for this; if you play too soon ,your 100mph drive speed is very likely to dislodge one of your leads and you would be back to square one !  

My understanding is that it takes at least 6 weeks for enough scar tissue to form to firmly hold your leads in position and although there is slack built in , in my opinion you would be crazy to risk it at 4 weeks.

For what it's worth my EP is a keen golfer himself and he recommended that I practise my short game only ( he must have seen me play  ! ) for the first 6 weeks.   I then had a few 9-hole rounds with a half-swing and only felt ready for the real thing at 8 weeks.

Have patience , another 4 weeks will shoot by  !

Ian

 

Golf

by gonsalves1234 - 2021-01-14 20:19:21

Thank you Ian, you are probably correct but I am confused why my Cardio Dr said 4 weeks is long enough to set the leads??

Golf

by AgentX86 - 2021-01-14 22:03:27

I don't play but I was told 6-weeks for a half swing or chip-n-put or 3 months for a full swing.  My EP is pretty conservative though.

We are all victims of our experience

by crustyg - 2021-01-15 05:32:04

One of the curses of Medicine is that over time we see rare things happen - and they stick with us.  Perhaps the more conservative EP-docs have seen one patient who managed to pull out a lead at five weeks?  Can you imagine the poor PCP whose prescription of a common antibiotic nearly killed a patient (not classical allergy) - extremely rare but recognised and documented side-effect, next time he sees a patient with a UTI for whom this antibiotic is the best choice?

There's one contributor here that I recall, who admits to having damaged a newly implanted lead a *few* weeks on, through very strenuous upper body gym workouts.  It really does happen, but not often these days with active fixation leads.

Strenuous upper body exercise

by AgentX86 - 2021-01-15 13:01:41

I can't imagine anything more strenuous on the upper body than a full 100mph golf swing.  That's about aside extended as it gets. Maybe a tennis service but that's warned about too.

Me

by PacedNRunning - 2021-01-23 02:44:50

I was cleared at 4 weeks and played at 5 weeks. I was cleared to run at 2 weeks and everything else at 4 weeks. Your the first person I've seen have short restrictions. Everyone else is 6 weeks. It really depends on how the place the leads and how they secure them. Some doctors are just Better at it than others and some trust their work better than others. :). So if he said 4 weeks your fine! 

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