Exercise After Broken Nose

Exercise After Broken Nose
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If you are used to regular workouts, it would be natural to be concerned about exercising after getting a broken nose. However, exercise should be avoided for at least six weeks following treatment for a broken nose, and exercises that are strenuous in nature and lead to heavy breathing should be eased into slowly to avoid complications.

Cardio and Bending

If you are someone who is used to doing aerobic exercises, you may need to restart your cardio exercises with simple walking after your minimum six weeks of rest has passed. This is because your breathing ability out of your nose may be not what it was. Exercises that require bending such as crunches and touching your toes, and using weight machines that require bending over -- such as those for back exercises -- should also only be started after consulting with your physician. These exercises might jolt your nose around too much and create complications.

Swimming and Sports

Swimming is another exercise that is prohibited after a broken nose treatment, because swimming could cause your wound to get wet and delay or not allow for healing. In the case of sports, any sport that may cause contact or further damage to your nose should be avoided for as long as is required by your doctor. To know when you can get back to regular exercising, you need to check with your doctor and get clearance before you get too ambitious.

Bed Rest

Not all broken noses require surgery, but if you do have surgery to alleviate your broken nose, immediately after your surgery it is important to rest with your head raised above your chest. This is to avoid swelling and bleeding. While it may be frustrating to have to lie in bed to heal your broken nose after surgery rather than immediately getting back to your regular exercise routine, rest is much more pleasant than experiencing postoperative complications. Even if your broken nose doesn't require surgery, it is crucial to seek advice from your doctor before beginning or going back to your exercise regime.

Risks

A big concern regarding exercising after a broken nose is the risk of internal bleeding. The chance of mucous drainage and breathing difficulties also exists. It is therefore mandatory that you are extremely careful about the types of exercises you perform and that you ease back into your routine slowly after the six-week recovery period.

References

Article reviewed by Leah Ann Crussell Last updated on: Mar 28, 2011

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