Sun exposure after spinal fusion surgery
Hello everyone,
I recently went abroad for the first time since my spinal fusion surgery, and I thought that I'd write a post to let you all know how I protected my scar from too much sun exposure and how I felt with having my scar out all day for 14days !
For me personally, this holiday was a huge step since my surgery, I did a lot of things that I haven't been able to do for awhile now such as kayaking and riding a horse, but most importantly I walked out of the hotel room every day with my scar on show and I honestly didn't give it a second thought. The fact that my scar was on show didn't bother me, I've actually grown to love it! I mainly love it because it's symbolic of how strong I can be and I am very proud of it.
When it came to sun exposure on my scar, I thought I would be very cautious and to be honest for the first couple of days I didn't really stay out in the sun for too long as I didn't want to burn my scar, however I found as the holiday progressed I gradually spent more and more time in the sun with my scar exposed, I obviously still made sure I had a high factor suncream on my scar tissue, but other than that I completely forgot I had a scar!
I wore a factor 50 on my scar for most of my holiday, which to be fair probably was a bit over cautious, but by the end of my holiday I was wearing factor 20 all over my back and I was completely fine.
My scoliosis didn't stop me from doing anything on holiday and like I previously stated most of the time I completely forgot that I had metal rods and screws in my spine, I guess I've become more used to the feeling of the metal work and now to me it really doesn't feel that strange anymore.
I rarely get back ache, but I found swimming in the pool really beneficial, it helped to loosen my shoulder blades and to some extent relax the muscles in my back. So, this is something I would really recommend doing especially if you get back ache around the shoulder blade area.
I had my scar out all day every day, so a lot of people did end up seeing it, however I thought people would stare but I am very much an over thinker and in fact not one person said anything about my scar. From a distance it's hard to recognise, but it's only up close when you can actually see my scar.
So if you are worried about people noticing your scar honestly don't be because a) they probably won't even notice and b) if they do notice they will just think about how brave you must be as a person.
If you are like me and you have had the spinal fusion surgery, please remember that your scar is nothing to feel ashamed of, wear it with pride and I know it's hard but try not to be so conscious that it's there.
Once I got over the whole self conscious stage post surgery, I actually started to love my scar and all it represents.
Thank you for reading, and I really hope this post has been of some use to you.
If you have scoliosis please feel free to ask me any questions below in the comments.
Sadie xoxo
I recently went abroad for the first time since my spinal fusion surgery, and I thought that I'd write a post to let you all know how I protected my scar from too much sun exposure and how I felt with having my scar out all day for 14days !
For me personally, this holiday was a huge step since my surgery, I did a lot of things that I haven't been able to do for awhile now such as kayaking and riding a horse, but most importantly I walked out of the hotel room every day with my scar on show and I honestly didn't give it a second thought. The fact that my scar was on show didn't bother me, I've actually grown to love it! I mainly love it because it's symbolic of how strong I can be and I am very proud of it.
When it came to sun exposure on my scar, I thought I would be very cautious and to be honest for the first couple of days I didn't really stay out in the sun for too long as I didn't want to burn my scar, however I found as the holiday progressed I gradually spent more and more time in the sun with my scar exposed, I obviously still made sure I had a high factor suncream on my scar tissue, but other than that I completely forgot I had a scar!
I wore a factor 50 on my scar for most of my holiday, which to be fair probably was a bit over cautious, but by the end of my holiday I was wearing factor 20 all over my back and I was completely fine.
My scoliosis didn't stop me from doing anything on holiday and like I previously stated most of the time I completely forgot that I had metal rods and screws in my spine, I guess I've become more used to the feeling of the metal work and now to me it really doesn't feel that strange anymore.
I rarely get back ache, but I found swimming in the pool really beneficial, it helped to loosen my shoulder blades and to some extent relax the muscles in my back. So, this is something I would really recommend doing especially if you get back ache around the shoulder blade area.
I had my scar out all day every day, so a lot of people did end up seeing it, however I thought people would stare but I am very much an over thinker and in fact not one person said anything about my scar. From a distance it's hard to recognise, but it's only up close when you can actually see my scar.
So if you are worried about people noticing your scar honestly don't be because a) they probably won't even notice and b) if they do notice they will just think about how brave you must be as a person.
If you are like me and you have had the spinal fusion surgery, please remember that your scar is nothing to feel ashamed of, wear it with pride and I know it's hard but try not to be so conscious that it's there.
Once I got over the whole self conscious stage post surgery, I actually started to love my scar and all it represents.
Thank you for reading, and I really hope this post has been of some use to you.
If you have scoliosis please feel free to ask me any questions below in the comments.
Sadie xoxo
Comments
Post a Comment