Sports after aortic valve replacment

[Guest]

Hi everyone
I am 25 years old, and I've had my aortic valve replaced 3 weeks ago.
Currently I am walking for about 3-5 miles every other day, mostly I feel fine, i just have a few questions:
1, I was wondering when will I be able to start jogging / playing football or any other more intense activity other then running?
2. How much heart rate should I have when resting and during activity? what should be the "limit" ?

 

[Ryanvs]

Hello!
* Personally, I started playing golf again after 9 weeks (only 9 holes). Was quite sore after however no damage done, just learning to reuse muscles. After around 3.5 months I could play without being sore. (That said, from time to time I do still have some pain from my sternal wires)
* I couldn't start jogging again until around 12-14 weeks. Simply the vibrations made me feel uneasy. Could be different for you however.
* I use to play contact sports (Aussie Rules here in Australia) but don't play anymore. being on warfarin I'd bruise up super easy and getting a split open eye or broken nose wouldn't be fun haha.

 

[Juli]

I did a lot of walking like you for 1-2 hours after leaving the hospital and started riding my road bike after 6 weeks (first ride 30 miles) and mountain bike after 8 weeks. I had a partial sternotomy and my sternum was closed with plates. I think that helped with stabilizing the sternum and minimizing pain - needed pain killers only for one day and used Tylenol for about two weeks. I was given no heart rate limit and Did not feel any limitations either. You might want to step up your walking if you can. If you feel pain it is "only" from your sternum and not from your heart which should be doing fine. Not sure what your symptoms were before surgery but your heart function is most likely better then before.

 

[SumoRunner]

I was 43 and had been a runner a long time. I walked almost every day from release to 6 weeks. I started to run at 6 weeks, didn't make it far the first time, maybe 80-100 yds, but alternated run/walk for 3 miles. It took 6 more weeks to run a full mile non-stop. At 5 months I ran a 5K. At 10 months, 10 miles normal pace. I never did any impact sports but threw the shot. I stayed away from that for another year, then threw again from age 45-65.

 

[spartangator]

As others described, the increase in activity will come with time as you feel better over the next few months. You'll start feeling stronger and more confident over this first year until one day you realize you're just performing and not thinking about the heart at all. In the interim, be patient with yourself and recognize how much healing is needed.

There don't seem to be broadly shared heart rate guidelines so that's likely a good conversation topic with your cardiologist so you get advice specific to your experience.

Welcome and all the best as you keep progressing.