Golfers

[famoussenior]

Wondering how long did you have to wait after AVR surgery to play golf? I had my surgery on March 1st and know I am nowhere near playing golf but was curious about how long the recovery time is for golfers. Thanks in advance.

 

[TheGymGuy]

My best guess is around 11-13 weeks you can start swinging lightly. I plan to start lifting and working upper body right around then.

 

[famoussenior]

Eleven to thirteen weeks after surgery sounds early to me and I'd be afraid the amount of torque in a golf swing will "undo" the healing of the sternum, even if I swing lightly. Since you are a competitive bodybuilder, your ability to heal and get back to normal is probably higher than a balding 65 year old! Ha ha.

All the best to you and your training.

 

[dick0236]

My guess is that you should be able to play by early/mid summer.....late June????? You should be able to work on your putting and chipping in a couple more weeks. Now that you got fixed, you will be "looking down at the grass" for a long time and will be able to play many more seasons.

 

[Greg a]

GIVE your sternum every chance you can ...don't rush it you don't want to rip your sternum apart, it can literaly shred or totaly disconect the coastal cartilage connects the ribs to the sternum. It is made up of hyaline cartilage. That is why surgery cannot fix or replace the sternum and if it is destroyed there is no question about golfing as my ribs move too freely when I swing a club ...damn do I miss that game ..... probably better for my BP not to golf LOL

 

[neil]

agree with above posts, unless you get on a playstation 3,then you can whoop tiger in the open lol

 

[Superbob]

not a golfer but I would agree about returning gradually, Did you take cardiac rehab? The nurses and docs there might have some good guidelines/advice for that.

 

[Bryan B]

Hi famoussenior,

I have played golf for close to 40 years (a few of those years professionally) and I have had 2 surgeries worth of experience. Everyone heals at different rates but the "average" time for the sternum to completely heal is around 12 weeks. I started chipping and putting at about 6 weeks as this is when I was allowed to drive. I drove up to the local driving range that had a short game practice area. By chipping I mean only chipping right around the green not pitches or bunker shots. At about 10 weeks I started hitting some half swing wedge shots (maybe half a small bucket) and did more chipping, pitching, putting. At 12 weeks I started taking some full swings with my wedge and some [very] easy swings with my irons and woods. From that point it was just a matter of not having pain as I started to add more power to my swing. I think by around week 12 its more a matter of how it feels to you. If you take a full swing and it causes you pain you are not ready yet. But more than likely by week 12 you are not going to do any damage to your sternum. It will let you know whether or not it's ready.

 

[famoussenior]

Thanks! Great advice from all!

I really miss playing golf but not enough to jeopardize my health. I'm willing to wait, besides the heat here in South Texas is already hitting 95 degrees and golf is almost unbearable after 11:00 a.m.