Best Position For Sleeping After Open Heart Surgery
HMMMMMM… SO WHAT IS THE BEST POSITION FOR SLEEPING AFTER OPEN HEART SURGERY?
It’s a great question. And, as I personally learned after my double heart valve replacement operation (known as the Ross Procedure), it’s a tricky question to answer. Plus, if you’re like me and you really enjoy your sleep, this is a critical question to ponder.
Actually, to best answer this question, you need to consider the time following your operation to determine the best position for sleeping after open heart surgery. Why?
Well, immediately following open heart sugery you will not have a choice. Sorry to be a buzzkill.
As you can see here in my pictures from the I.C.U., there are tubes everywhere. The only real option for you to sleep is on your back.
Then, you will come from the hospital. YEAAHHHHH! Plus, no more tubes sticking out of your body! However, for the first few weeks, you may have some trouble sleeping. I had some nightsweats and insomnia. I used Halcion, as a sleeping pill, to sleep through the night.
As for sleeping position options… During the first few weeks after cadiac surgery, soreness from the median sternotomy (aka your cracked rib cage) will be pretty intense. Therefore, I chose to continue my ‘on-the-back’ sleep style.
As your chestplate starts to heal, the best position for sleeping after open heart surgery will begin to change.
Personally, I love to sleep on my tummy. I have my own favorite position for sleep - on my stomach, one arm under one pillow and the other arm over a second pillow. Not to mention, I typically like to sleep with one leg over the covers. Am I weird?
Anyways, back to the best position for sleep after open heart surgery.
Now, it’s a few weeks after open heart surgery. Your chest is healing. You will be tempted to sleep on your side. Go for it! I’ll never forget that first night of sleep on my side. It was pretty darn good. I felt progress. I was healing! If you want, try for the stomach. You’re not going to break. If it hurts, roll back to your side.
I don’t think I fully made it to my tummy for sleep until the seventh week following surgery. But, I have to tell you, that was one of the greatest sleeps I ever had! 
Keep on tickin,
Adam
Adam Pick is the author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, a unique book which integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of an actual heart valve surgery patient. This special book divides the valve surgery process into four sections which address the challenges and opportunities faced by both patients and caregivers.
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July 17th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Adam:
I had open heart surgery weeks ago today. I’ve always slept on my side but have not done so yet. I don’t have an appointment with the surgeon and cardiologist for three more weeks. Do I still have to sleep on my back until then? I haven’t had much sternum discomfort. I’m just afraid I’d crack it if I got on my side too soon.
Also, I sleep in a recliner because if I lay down on my bed I immediately get a lower back ache. Have you had any similar comments from other readers?
Thanks.
Al Metrik
July 30th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
i had a 7.5 cm ascending aortic aneurysm repair done on 7-03-08 and a mechanical heart valve put in.
i think i’m doing good for now sleeping on my back and side. it’s taking awhile to get my strengh back. doing alot of walking. still having some problems with shortness of breath. having a big problem with my right arm - pins and needles and nummness and also lost alot of strength and motion. doctors think it might be a pinched nerve but they dont know. anyone out there have any problems like this? please let me know. thank you
August 13th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Today is August 12, and I had open heart surgery on July 18. So it’s been 3 1/2 weeks. I don’t see my surgeon until Sept. 4, but I do see a cardiologist on August 21. I still sleep on my back, but I would love to sleep on my side. I always wake up feeling very stiff in the chest and left neck areas. I did sleep in a recliner the first week, but now sleep in bed.
I seem to get middle of the back pain if I’m standing too long ( after taking a shower ). Just two days ago I started getting a few very sharp pains in my left leg, but I am guessing that is from the stiff muscle finally starting to get some feeling and the nerves healing from where the vein was taken out. I say just give everything time. I’m looking forward to having somebody tell me I can drive again !
December 31st, 2008 at 2:53 pm
i had a triple heart bypass and double valve replacement/repair 12 months ago and after 3 months was told i could drive what a refief,as to question about sleeping i sleep on my stomache but found it hurt after surgery it took about 5 months for me to sleep normal again,but everytime i get a pain or niggle in my chest i start to worry,is this normal ??? i have also changed my family have said ie-very irretable/confused/forgetful/angry/depressed/and moody/i used to be very placid now being compared to victor meldrew,i was told am going through the grieving process,so this is a normal feeling after this type of surgery dont do what i done bottled it up,talk to your practice nurse/physio/doctor they can refer you to counceling,didnt work for me buy hey were all different anyway thats me done hope you all have excellent recovery
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:36 pm
i had open heart surgery almost exactly one month ago after receiving trauma to my right atrium. only in the last few days have i chanced sleeping on my side. it’s a very mixed blessing kind of situation, though. i find i sleep better but there is rather noticeable extra soreness to my sternum. so i try to fall asleep on my back, and if i wake up on my side i assess the pain. if it’s just a little sore i stay put or switch sides; if it hurts i’ll go back to my back. for the record i only had pain and anti-anxiety meds for the first two weeks and have been truckin’ it since then. another mixed blessing, as i feel like i’m more responsive to my body’s requirements, but obviously it hurts! my follow-up with thorasics is this friday so i hope to alleviate some of my discomfort, in which case i imagine i’ll be sleeping much more comfortably.