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Does the "raised feeling" of a pacemaker implant ever go away?
Pacemaker & ICDs | Last Active: Sep 8 6:05am | Replies (24)Comment receiving replies
Hello beautifulgiraffe
I am afraid I am going to disappoint you. I just tried what you described - reaching behind my right should with my left hand - and, well, I did not experience any discomfort.
You don't mention how long you have had your implant. If you received very recently, as in the last 2 months, it is not advised to do any reaching either above your head or behind your back, as per your recovery protocol.
However, if you have had it for sometime and are still experiencing limitations in your range of motion, I do remember that it took a good 24 months or so for all the aches and sharp twinges to go away. And it took about that long to fully regain my range of motion. But if you have had the discomfort for some time, I am wondering, if scar tissue - or fibrosis - isn't the culprit. If so, perhaps some guided physical therapy , teaching you targeted controlled stretching exercises, might help to increase your range of motion. I found such therapy helped me.
Another thing I do, because it does provide some gentle stretching exercise for my arms and shoulders, is tai chi. There is an excellent short (as in 7 minutes) video on YouTube, that I find to be very helpful with gentle arm movements. I could send you the link if you are interested.
I continue to do the stretching exercises I was taught. I do not believe that internal scar tissue ever goes away but with some gentle exercises, you may be able to reach behind your back with your left hand. And let me know if you are interested in the YouTube link.
All the best.
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@cottagecountry
What you posted is excellent information and guidance.
I am on my 3rd ICD/Pacemaker and mine is under my chest muscle. Just like you said it is going to take some time for the area to stop being irritated and the wires and device be incapsulated by the body. The first device is going to take the longest to have this occur.
My EP gave me a one-year mark to get over what he called the splinter feel. He was right on. But I found even though I have had a ICD/Pacemaker for almost 20 years I still find I must watch and limit what I do with my left arm.
For me I do stretches and movements that do not cause me any pain in the device area. Once I feel any pain or discomfort, I stopped the motion and try something different that does not cause discomfort. I do water aerobics 5 days a week and we use our arms the entire time. Ninety percent of the time no issues but that 10% I will do something else that does not bring discomfort or any pulling type of feeling.
There is a stretch we do with our arms during cool down. Hard to explain but you bend your arm at elbow and bend your hand over your shoulder and then push up with other hand. Great for shoulder joints and muscles. You can control the amount of force because you are controlling that pressure with your other hand. On my right side I use strong pressure on my left, light but still getting a good stretch on shoulder joints and muscles.