For those of you who have had top surgery...

[Eli_]

how long after the surgery were you able to go back to work?
my job doesn't involve any lifting or physical work, it's just doing software work on computers, and as I need the money, I'm certainly willing to tough it out as soon as it's possible for me to be back to work.
(I'm aware that it depends a lot on the person and how well you heal up, but I'm just trying to get a ballpark estimate for planning purposes)

[J.T.]

I was back at work about two weeks after surgery and that was too soon.  I was really uncomfortable in the car and unable to do a lot of things at work (like opening drawers, lifting documents).

[JohnAlex]

I was back at work about two weeks after surgery and that was too soon.  I was really uncomfortable in the car and unable to do a lot of things at work (like opening drawers, lifting documents).

How long do you think you should have waited to be able to do those kinds of things?

[Father Way]

I was able to climb onto an upper bunk bed on the third day and lift a small suitecase by the next week but I'd say give yourself minimum 3 weeks. I couldn't reach over my head quite a while because of the tightness of my chest.

[J.T.]

How long do you think you should have waited to be able to do those kinds of things?

I should have given myself at least 1 more week at home.  I thought I would be okay because I was mostly computer work, but the biggest issue was being uncomfortable driving.

And I went back to the gym too soon too.  Six weeks after surgery, should have waited longer.

But people are different.

[mowdan6]

I work a very physical job.  I took a month off, and that worked well.  Had to give myself more time...6 weeks, before doing any reaching over my head.  Not that it was painful, just did'nt want to pull on the scar tissue.  The biggest thing with doing anything physical after top surgery, is to minimize the scarring.  The other thing i did, was to put everything i thought I might need, on my kitchen table.  That way , I would be reaching for nothing. 

[JohnAlex]

Is it true that if you push yourself too much and move your arms too much right after surgery before adequate healing time that you could make the scaring worse?

[wheat thins are delicious]

I believe so.  Think about any places where you have had scarring and how activities have affected that.