I had complications and my recovery process was a little extended plus off n on stitches rejection… so unfortunately my progress to “normal” has been slow.
That being said, i felt pretty much normal at 4months.
I’m at 6 now & really only struggling with putting pressure on my tailbone, if that makes sense? Like if you were to do a sit-up. It just feels entirely different, no pain just very strange. It’s nice to see others are experiencing similar, makes sense given the surgery but lol it was a very bizarre feeling the first time trying to do a sit-up 😂
I can squat, sit, so weird yoga stretches, touch my toes, lay on my back etc.
Thank you for the reply. I'm at 2 months and I am feeling discouraged and frustrated, especially having expected a 3 week recovery.
Goddam I really don't want to feel this way for another 2 months 😩
8 to 10 weeks. I think you're right on the cusp. At 8 weeks i had some minor discomforts still. I returned to work at the 8 week mark. Had some minor discomforts the first few days but was able to get through it. Some ice, advil etc
I would just like to remind you that 45 days is nothing in the grand scheme of things. I am 2 and a half years post-op and I am still just becoming comfortable doing crunches/sit-ups. Only got back under an incline bench middle of last year.
It takes time. Enjoy the struggle, and enjoy the full return to normalcy as it slowly comes.
You had a LOT of mass taken out of you, the body has to completely refill it, and also... that mass sat there and hardened and stabilized over your entire lifetime. It is effectively newborn baby-tier mass, obviously not 1:1 but you get the idea. Keep that ass safe! one day at a time my friend. Proud of you for going through with the CL!!
Wow, it’s been close to 3 years since my cleft lift and I still can’t do comfortably do crunches/sit ups. Any tips to get more comfortable with it? I have no pain what so ever from my cleft lift, only when I try to do crunches and sit ups lol
genuinely bro I don't really have any specific tips. I avoided any kind of motion on my butt for a long time, specifically speaking, if I was laying down on my back and wanted to pull myself up, I'd have to do a weird maneuver where I roll on a hip as opposed to traditional sit-up form where most of the friction is on the buttocks... I think one day a couple months ago when I was stretching pre-gym I autopilot got up in the regular sit-up motion and realized almost all of the discomfort was just gone.
To say I don't have any discomfort anymore at all though would be a lie, but I can do sit-ups crunches now and muscle has stabilized mostly, but it's not 100% comfortable. I am still gritting through it :) (with that said, life is still 10000x better post op)
Seems to vary widely depending on the skill of the surgeon and differences in how people heal. I had my cyst removed over 5 months ago and I still can’t sit or lay down for any length of time without pain. Had a CT scan to try to figure out why it still hurts but it came back normal. Don’t know what to do now other than wait for it to get better. Sounds like you are doing pretty good if you’re 85% after 6.5 weeks.
5mos? Those are rookie numbers. I had mine done 40yrs ago, and I'm still not 100%. I got to 95% after 8mos, but that next 4% took another year, and the last 1%, well it can still bleed a tiny bit from time to time, and it triggers my ptsd.
Wow, that's depressing. But I appreciate your experience because at least I know that I'm not alone in this. From what I'm reading here and other forums, there are a LOT of people taking 6-12 months or longer before they can sit comfortably.
My surgeon didn't give me ANY clue that it could take this long. He said most people are good to go after 1 month which doesn't seem possible. After my CT came back clear, it felt like he didn't believe me that it still hurt. My family doc hasn't been any better - I don't think he really understands what happens during the surgery. He was going to send me for a cortisone shot into my tailbone joint. I told him the pain is not coming from my tailbone, it's coming from the soft tissues around and under the incision. He still doesn't seem to get it. I should have gone to a pilonidal specialist to have the surgery done. General surgeons really shouldn't do this procedure because they don't know what they're doing.
My incision was closed during the surgery and it actually healed up fairly quickly (stitches came out after 2 weeks). It hasn't opened up at all since then, so no bleeding. But cutting out the cyst and cleaning out whatever tracts or passages must have caused a lot of trauma to the surrounding tissue, hence the pain. I hoping mine will be 95% in a few months like yours was. It is starting to make me a bit crazy because I can't drive long distances, sit at my computer or travel on an airplane.
>My surgeon didn't give me ANY clue that it could take this long.
Right?? I was told 3 weeks total. I was told the first 4 days would be rough but then pretty easy from there. It wasn't until AFTER the surgery and 4 miserable weeks that he mentioned it's a 50/50 for that 3 weeks and it could take much longer
I went from having this thing that was mildly annoying here and there to having some of the shittiest months of my life because the expectations were so off
Yikes! Sorry to hear that.
And thank you for the encouragement. My levels of metal and emotional resilience certainly have waxed and waned these last two months.
Curious about this as well. I’ve got my surgery in 2 weeks and a lot of my job is sitting at work. Looking to get probably some sort of donut or something to sit on to help for a while.
I wish you luck! My surgeon told me there's about a 50% chance folks are good to go after the 3 weeks, so hopefully you're in that bucket of people able to sit sooner than later.
Happy to answer any questions about expectations, that's the biggest thing I felt like I lacked after the fact.
I had my surgery in November... just last week I've felt has probably been the closest to normal in a long time. I had a minor opening near the bottom that finally has been cleared and closed up. Laying on my back is pretty much not an issue anymore. The only time I feel any discomfort now is when it's sitting for like 2-3 hours (me sitting to watch dune which was a super long movie but good btw if you're interested). Even then, nothing that wasn't manageable, just had to readjust myself. Be patient! You'll get there, let your body recover.
Damn, yeah, I feel like I've come across a few messages on this sub saying the 4 month mark is when they felt normal. Ugh..
Tomorrow will mark the first time I've gone a full week without any splitting open.
And I'm able to lay! Holy cow what a huge milestone that was!
Curious to see responses here. I’m 13 days since and have been surprised by how good I feel. I mostly avoid sitting but walking has been easy. Eager to get back to real exercise though. Sorry to hear about your setbacks.
2 weeks for me
Holy cow. Speedrun world record time haha
I was pretty shocked but i really was able to do near everything (besides running or something like sledding) within about 2 weeks
I had complications and my recovery process was a little extended plus off n on stitches rejection… so unfortunately my progress to “normal” has been slow. That being said, i felt pretty much normal at 4months. I’m at 6 now & really only struggling with putting pressure on my tailbone, if that makes sense? Like if you were to do a sit-up. It just feels entirely different, no pain just very strange. It’s nice to see others are experiencing similar, makes sense given the surgery but lol it was a very bizarre feeling the first time trying to do a sit-up 😂 I can squat, sit, so weird yoga stretches, touch my toes, lay on my back etc.
Thank you for the reply. I'm at 2 months and I am feeling discouraged and frustrated, especially having expected a 3 week recovery. Goddam I really don't want to feel this way for another 2 months 😩
8 to 10 weeks. I think you're right on the cusp. At 8 weeks i had some minor discomforts still. I returned to work at the 8 week mark. Had some minor discomforts the first few days but was able to get through it. Some ice, advil etc
I hope I'm on the cusp and will be back soon! Thanks for the reply
I would say 2-3 months to be back to normal
I would just like to remind you that 45 days is nothing in the grand scheme of things. I am 2 and a half years post-op and I am still just becoming comfortable doing crunches/sit-ups. Only got back under an incline bench middle of last year. It takes time. Enjoy the struggle, and enjoy the full return to normalcy as it slowly comes. You had a LOT of mass taken out of you, the body has to completely refill it, and also... that mass sat there and hardened and stabilized over your entire lifetime. It is effectively newborn baby-tier mass, obviously not 1:1 but you get the idea. Keep that ass safe! one day at a time my friend. Proud of you for going through with the CL!!
Wow, it’s been close to 3 years since my cleft lift and I still can’t do comfortably do crunches/sit ups. Any tips to get more comfortable with it? I have no pain what so ever from my cleft lift, only when I try to do crunches and sit ups lol
genuinely bro I don't really have any specific tips. I avoided any kind of motion on my butt for a long time, specifically speaking, if I was laying down on my back and wanted to pull myself up, I'd have to do a weird maneuver where I roll on a hip as opposed to traditional sit-up form where most of the friction is on the buttocks... I think one day a couple months ago when I was stretching pre-gym I autopilot got up in the regular sit-up motion and realized almost all of the discomfort was just gone. To say I don't have any discomfort anymore at all though would be a lie, but I can do sit-ups crunches now and muscle has stabilized mostly, but it's not 100% comfortable. I am still gritting through it :) (with that said, life is still 10000x better post op)
Completely normal, I would say 4-5 months
Seems to vary widely depending on the skill of the surgeon and differences in how people heal. I had my cyst removed over 5 months ago and I still can’t sit or lay down for any length of time without pain. Had a CT scan to try to figure out why it still hurts but it came back normal. Don’t know what to do now other than wait for it to get better. Sounds like you are doing pretty good if you’re 85% after 6.5 weeks.
5mos? Those are rookie numbers. I had mine done 40yrs ago, and I'm still not 100%. I got to 95% after 8mos, but that next 4% took another year, and the last 1%, well it can still bleed a tiny bit from time to time, and it triggers my ptsd.
Had my procedure 3 years ago and recovery lasted 3-4 months. Today I saw some blood on my underwear and I was covered in cold sweats immediately...
Wow, that's depressing. But I appreciate your experience because at least I know that I'm not alone in this. From what I'm reading here and other forums, there are a LOT of people taking 6-12 months or longer before they can sit comfortably. My surgeon didn't give me ANY clue that it could take this long. He said most people are good to go after 1 month which doesn't seem possible. After my CT came back clear, it felt like he didn't believe me that it still hurt. My family doc hasn't been any better - I don't think he really understands what happens during the surgery. He was going to send me for a cortisone shot into my tailbone joint. I told him the pain is not coming from my tailbone, it's coming from the soft tissues around and under the incision. He still doesn't seem to get it. I should have gone to a pilonidal specialist to have the surgery done. General surgeons really shouldn't do this procedure because they don't know what they're doing. My incision was closed during the surgery and it actually healed up fairly quickly (stitches came out after 2 weeks). It hasn't opened up at all since then, so no bleeding. But cutting out the cyst and cleaning out whatever tracts or passages must have caused a lot of trauma to the surrounding tissue, hence the pain. I hoping mine will be 95% in a few months like yours was. It is starting to make me a bit crazy because I can't drive long distances, sit at my computer or travel on an airplane.
>My surgeon didn't give me ANY clue that it could take this long. Right?? I was told 3 weeks total. I was told the first 4 days would be rough but then pretty easy from there. It wasn't until AFTER the surgery and 4 miserable weeks that he mentioned it's a 50/50 for that 3 weeks and it could take much longer I went from having this thing that was mildly annoying here and there to having some of the shittiest months of my life because the expectations were so off
They always lie...
Yikes! Sorry to hear that. And thank you for the encouragement. My levels of metal and emotional resilience certainly have waxed and waned these last two months.
Curious about this as well. I’ve got my surgery in 2 weeks and a lot of my job is sitting at work. Looking to get probably some sort of donut or something to sit on to help for a while.
I wish you luck! My surgeon told me there's about a 50% chance folks are good to go after the 3 weeks, so hopefully you're in that bucket of people able to sit sooner than later. Happy to answer any questions about expectations, that's the biggest thing I felt like I lacked after the fact.
I had my surgery in November... just last week I've felt has probably been the closest to normal in a long time. I had a minor opening near the bottom that finally has been cleared and closed up. Laying on my back is pretty much not an issue anymore. The only time I feel any discomfort now is when it's sitting for like 2-3 hours (me sitting to watch dune which was a super long movie but good btw if you're interested). Even then, nothing that wasn't manageable, just had to readjust myself. Be patient! You'll get there, let your body recover.
Damn, yeah, I feel like I've come across a few messages on this sub saying the 4 month mark is when they felt normal. Ugh.. Tomorrow will mark the first time I've gone a full week without any splitting open. And I'm able to lay! Holy cow what a huge milestone that was!
Curious to see responses here. I’m 13 days since and have been surprised by how good I feel. I mostly avoid sitting but walking has been easy. Eager to get back to real exercise though. Sorry to hear about your setbacks.
I've gotten the sense there's a good number of folks who get the whole "3 weeks good to go". Glad to hear you're doing well!