am I exercising too much with a 4.3 ascending aortic aneurysm?

@azguy1

I remember feeling the same confusion when I first heard the words “aortic dissection.” Mine was already tearing by the time anyone realized what was happening, and in 2015 I ended up on an operating table for emergency open-heart surgery and a Dacron graft. Because of that, I pay very close attention now to what the numbers actually mean and what the body is trying to tell us.

A dilation of 4.0 cm is something to respect, but it’s not something that should steal the joy from your life. The fact that your doctor has cleared you without restrictions is reassuring. What I learned after my own dissection is that it isn’t the activity itself that’s the danger — it’s how we do it. The aorta hates sudden spikes in pressure. It hates breath-holding. It hates that heavy Valsalva strain we slip into without thinking. You can climb mountains, hike hard, and let your heart rate rise, but the key is keeping every movement smooth and every breath open. When the breathing stays loose, the pressure stays steady, and the aorta stays happier.

I still exercise every day, but I do it with attention instead of fear. If you feel good, if you’re breathing easily, and if your doctor has given you the green light, you’re doing the right things. Knowing your measurement and paying attention to the mechanics of how you move is what keeps you safe. That knowledge is power — and it’s power I wish I’d had before my dissection.

You’re not alone in this. Keep moving, keep breathing, and keep respecting that aorta without letting it run your life. Peace.

I absolutely agree with kmailloux. When found my aneurysm was a 4. I was told when it reached 5 we would discuss options. I ended up with an emergency dissection at 4.5 cm. Emergency everything just like kmailloux said. Be mindful, don't lift anything that causes you to grunt, moan, groan, hold your breath, or strain. ASK FOR HELP! I am a 71 YO female and this happened to me at 68. I am going in for another surgery for correction in February. I had no symptoms then and have none now.
Best wishes

@azguy1

I remember feeling the same confusion when I first heard the words “aortic dissection.” Mine was already tearing by the time anyone realized what was happening, and in 2015 I ended up on an operating table for emergency open-heart surgery and a Dacron graft. Because of that, I pay very close attention now to what the numbers actually mean and what the body is trying to tell us.

A dilation of 4.0 cm is something to respect, but it’s not something that should steal the joy from your life. The fact that your doctor has cleared you without restrictions is reassuring. What I learned after my own dissection is that it isn’t the activity itself that’s the danger — it’s how we do it. The aorta hates sudden spikes in pressure. It hates breath-holding. It hates that heavy Valsalva strain we slip into without thinking. You can climb mountains, hike hard, and let your heart rate rise, but the key is keeping every movement smooth and every breath open. When the breathing stays loose, the pressure stays steady, and the aorta stays happier.

I still exercise every day, but I do it with attention instead of fear. If you feel good, if you’re breathing easily, and if your doctor has given you the green light, you’re doing the right things. Knowing your measurement and paying attention to the mechanics of how you move is what keeps you safe. That knowledge is power — and it’s power I wish I’d had before my dissection.

You’re not alone in this. Keep moving, keep breathing, and keep respecting that aorta without letting it run your life. Peace.

My aortic dilation is 4.0 cm. I exercise a lot hiking and climbing mountains. Often my heart rate gets into the 140s-150s. I never know though if that bad or not. My doc told me no restrictions on exercise. Thanks for posting this thread.

@shiloh376 hi , here is one of them, the most important:

The other video I have posted is from Dr Andrew Huberman’s channel and he and a guest explain why and how high BP increases when lifting heavy weights, but watch Dr Prakash’s he focus solely on aneurysms

Hope it helps!!

@houston13 How can I find your videos? I am very interested. Shiloh376 Brian

The main issue with exercise is avoiding any exercise that leads you to hold your breath and/or grunt, that is common when trying to maintain back stability, sometimes while doing planks, crunches or lifting heavy weights. It is known that during those moments your BP rises significantly and high BP is the worst enemy of an aneurysm. That is why cardiologists normally tell patients to limit weight lifting to 30lbs. I have posted videos in this forum about exercising and aneurysms, look through my posts and you will find them. One of them is from a cardiologist who does research in the subject the other is by Dr Andy Galpin with Dr Huberman, it is not about aneurysms but how and why straining makes BP increase and by how much

On the other hand keeping your body healthy it’s paramount in case you ever need surgery to repair your aneurysm. I had mine repaired in 2020, I was 54 and my aneurysm was 5.2 cm. I was in very good physical shape and my surgeon gave me >99% of having no complications. I was out of the hospital in 5 days back to work in 3 weeks

Thank you so much for your feed back.. and yes I am trying to pin point the chest pain. It drives me crazy, trying to figure out what is causing it. the Doctors don't want to do more testing because I am a very healthy 60 year old ... expect and aortic aneurysm, that could be life threatening. I am new to this all and still trying to come to grips with it.. it doesn't help when the doc's and nurses give you the standard "don't lift more than 50 lbs" Im 5'2" and 125lbs how is that the same as a 6'2" man of 250 lbs.. doesn't make sense to me.. As does the as much cardio as you are use to guideline.. I am used to Marathons - is that much blood going thru the aorta good for the aneurysm ? no one seems to know.. Any helo is great.