I recently received a great question from Jill (a caregiver) about [1] sleep after heart surgery.

Jill’s husband, Derek, is preparing for heart valve surgery. She is concerned about incision pain and healing as Derek gets in-and-out of bed. She writes, “I have heard that broken sternum recovery following cardiac surgery is very painful. Do you think it would be more comfortable and less painful for Derek to rest / sleep in a recliner instead of a bed following his heart valve replacement?”

So you know, I did not use a recliner or Lazy-boy during my recovery.

However, I have heard of many patients who did use recliners following surgery.

A recliner can minimize the pressure on the broken sternum and the [2] sternal wires as the patient assumes a resting position. That said, the patient may experience less pain within his/her chest following heart valve surgery.

However, there are some thoughts that being overly cautious, specific to movement post-surgery, might inhibit healing and stimulate some fear in the patient’s mind about re-animating their lives.

Following my surgery, my incision was very, very, very, very sensitive. I can attest… [3] Broken sternum recovery is not very fun. In fact, I did not sleep on my chest for the first five weeks after surgery. Getting in-and-out of bed was a miserable experience.

That said, if I was to have cardiac surgery again, I think I would use a recliner for the first week or so after open heart surgery.

Ultimately, if you are questioning whether or not to use a recliner instead of a regular bed after heart surgery, I would chat with your surgeon about this.

Keep on tickin!

[4] To learn more about Adam’s heart valve surgery book, click here.