Clicks and pops...

[Guest]

Hello, everybody! I am from South Carolina and just had a Pulmonary valve replacement (open-heart) on August 4th. I am a little over two weeks out of surgery and have little to no pain, other than some stiffness in the morning when I first wake up. I am starting to notice some small pops and clicks when I make certain movements. Is this normal? They never hurt, but I am a worry wort, so I thought I would ask. Thank you in advance!

 

[JLmatus]

Clicks and pops near the incision point in the chest area are normal shortly after open heart surgery. They will go away in a few weeks. They can be very disconcerting though. I know. I went through the same thing after my surgery. I asked one of the visiting home health nurses about this issue. She assured me that creaks and groans are a part of the healing process. Mine went away a few weeks after my surgery.

 

[Warrick]

My sternum still clicks when I walk, although the surrounds have to be pretty quiet to hear it but it is audible to others, I told my surgeon last year before I had my wires out and so had xrays and he been in there and he said its solid as, I'm pretty sure its the second rib up from the bottom on my left thats the culprit.

As was explained to me the sternum is not one bone but several so its nothing to be concered about, your sternum will have several more weeks yet before its considered healed.