Question:
2 months post-op and have poor posture

My posture has been alot worse since my surgery. I slouch all the time. I try to sit up as straight as possible but just can't. When I slouch so much, I can actually feel a pain around my incision area. I lied on my back to check for hernia but didn't feel anything. Did anyone else have a hard time with standing or sitting up straight after surgery? There was a previous question about posture but the person said it would hurt to stand up straight. Mine is the total opposite.~~Jen~~    — Jennifer G. (posted on May 22, 2002)

May 22, 2002
I am 15 days post-op and I swear that my surgeon cut through a muscle that runs from between my breast to the bottom of my stomach! When I stand up straight I can feel it pulling from between my breast. It feels better to slouch but Im afraid that I will heal like that. When Im up walking around I always try to have good posture all though it hurts. I dont know if that helps but just know that your not alone.
   — mastrnservnt

May 22, 2002
I'm 1 month post-op and I noticed about 2 weeks ago that I have more of a tendency to slouch while at my desk and my back would ache from this between the lower shoulder blades to the bra strap area. It seemed like something had mysteriously disappeared that was previously allowing me to sit up straight. Like some string that was holding me up before had been snipped and all support had been lost. By the end of the day my back would be killing me and the only relief I felt was reclining or laying down flat on my back. I don't know what caused it but I became paranoid that my calcium was so low that my bones were getting weak and couldn't support my body. I doubt that's it, but you can't help getting paranoid. I started taking my vitamins last week and I've noticed that things have improved. I don't feel like I can't hold myself up anymore, and my back only gets tired a little. I know this hasn't really answered what causes this, but I wanted you to know that you're not alone. One other thing that has been going on with me that has not improved is that I can't sit for very long without my butt getting really sore and my tailbone feeling like it's got no padding at all. And this is far from true, because I've only lost 24 pounds. So, I don't know what's up with that. I have a desk job, so I do have to sit quite a bit at my computer. At home I don't sit as much, but even watching TV for an hour makes my butt hurt. Maybe somebody else knows what's going on. Good luck.
   — Val D.

May 23, 2002
I had the same problem with my posture after surgery too. I don't know if it had to do with the large incision I had or just a side effect of not having the fat to hold me up anymore. I have found that my posture has greatly improved since I started weight training.
   — Kathleen F.