by Andrew Power_June 21st, 2021
Post-Operative Care – A Physical Training Perspective
At the time of writing I am 2 months post-surgery, which I feel is ample time to provide a comprehensive report on the various stages of my post-surgery recovery. First of all, I think it is important to note that I had a variety of reasons why I felt hesitant about proceeding with vision correction surgery. I am a full-time personal trainer, and I regularly coach sports. Therefore, it was important to me to be 100% confident in the safety of the procedure, as, obviously, any negative effects of surgery would have a potentially disastrous effect on my career, both short & long-term. However, I was immediately impressed by the attention to detail of the whole consultation process. I must add also, I was accompanied throughout the process by a wonderful lady, Rosa, who always ensured my questions along the way were answered. Indeed, by the end of the consultation, I felt that not only was I in safe hands, but that I thoroughly understood what I was committing to. I quickly transformed from holding some reservations about proceeding, to now growing in excitement at the prospect of not having to rely on glasses or contact lenses for clear vision. For anyone that is an athlete or trains regularly, you can imagine how I was now feeling! 🙂
WEEK 0-1 POST-OP
As mentioned, a big component of my lifestyle is physical activity. Therefore, I was keen to do everything correct to ensure I kept my fitness to a high level without taking any unnecessary risks. You are not permitted to proceed with light exercise until a week post-op. By the 3rd day after surgery, up to week 1, I felt fine to go for the occasional walk just to get some fresh air & avoid allowing my body to become too stiff. From my experience this helped a great deal. My advice here is keep the walks short and slow as you still need to remember that, although the rest of your body may be feeling well, your eyes are in the very early stages of recovery.
WEEK 1-2 POST-OP
Once I reached a week post-op, I gradually stepped up my levels of exercise to jogging, and long, brisk walks. This should be totally fine for the majority of people at this time, assuming your fitness level is at least average.
WEEK 2-4 POST-OP
Naturally being a restless person, I was now glad to be able to push myself that little big harder with my training, especially as I moved into week 2&3 with no ill effects and having completed successful post-op consultations. With the advantage of a personal training background, it was easy for me to design a risk-free training plan for myself for the 4 weeks post-op. Combined with the tremendous aftercare (I always felt Rosa was only a text message away if I needed her), I felt great peace of mind in how my recovery process was going.
WEEK 4 POST-OP
By now I was feeling extremely relaxed about my exercises capabilities. After zero ill effects I was now permitted to complete strenuous exercise – even to participate in contact sports. For me this included pushing myself to my maximum in the gym and with home workouts.
In conclusion, I still find it quite amazing that I changed my life around in such a short space of time. Ever since I was a child I have suffered with extremely poor eyesight. Never did I think the technology would exist for me to have not only better vision, but to achieve better than 20/20 vision in both eyes. The fact that my career and training was so minimally impacted is the icing on the cake!
TAKEAWAY
If you are like me, and maintaining your physical fitness is highly important to you, you will be pleased to know that it is indeed possible to continue to exercise post-surgery, assuming you are being smart with your routine. For example, easing back into your training post-op is highly advisable, rather than going from zero training back to all out intensity in a short period of time. On that note, if there is anyone who is hesitant on proceeding with the surgery due to fears on how a lay-off from high intense workouts will impact their fitness, or you simply have a training-related question, feel free to contact me directly as I will happily advise on the do’s and don’ts that should be applied to your post-op training routine in more detail.
Check out his real story about ICL surgery.
Andrew is a personal trainer and health coach based in Seoul. He is not only highly qualified, but has over 15 years experience coaching around the world, If you wish to contact Andrew with any questions on optimal training post-op, he can be reached through email: ajpowerfitness@gmail.com, or DM him on Instagram: @ajpowerfitness
