Recovery time for singers having banding?

pc201 · November 9, 2007

Hi to all~

As a professional singer with special demands placed on my abdominal and diaphragmatic and lower back muscles, I am especially interested in possibly hearing from other singers here who have had lap band surgery and how it affected them and recovery time needed before they were able to get back to performing.

Thanks for reading and good luck to all in your journey through this.

pc

Mellis · November 9, 2007

I would be interested in this also--while I'm not a professional singer, I do sing in an international championship chorus--and we will have a competition in march/april(i forget which!). I am looking at the first of Jan to have the band placed also

michellyoh · November 16, 2007

I'm not a professional singer, but I am a member of a community choir. Recovery time is minimal. It all depends on the individual, and how quickly you incorporate exercise into your daily routine. I was in the gym walking within 2 days. By week 4, I was doing sit ups (they recommend you wait a few weeks before doing abdominal exercises). It's all up to you! Happy Singing!

sunflwermin · December 26, 2008

Hey There -- I am a professional singer also. I had my surgery on December 9th and felt great week 2 -- however -- I sang again the Sunday before I hit week 2 and have noticed that I have had some severe pain in and around my diaphragm, middle back and don't have the breath control that I had pre-op. I called the surgeon's office today and described my symptoms to the nurse and she seems to think that singing caused some irritation because of the diaphragm bouncing up and down repetitively. She advised going back to a very limited diet (liquids, soft foods), and much much rest. She also said that if symptoms worsen then I'll need to see the surgeon.

I honestly think I overdid it -- because of the time of year and feeling good so quickly, I believe I did too much too fast and am paying the price. But just be aware that this pain isn't something that a lot of people deal with and singers and people who talk a lot can have this irritation.....I would discuss this with your surgeon prior to surgery just so you'll know.

jasmin20 · December 28, 2008

oh my gosh I would have never thought that it would effect singing! I am in school, I am a voice major. I have voice lesson a week after sugery,wow! I hope everything will be ok. :tongue_smilie:

sunflwermin · December 28, 2008

Maybe I'm the exception to the rule -- I sure hope so but you might want to take it easy and let your instructor know you have had surgery so you won't have to do a lot of abdominal breathing stuff in your warm-ups. If you can possibly postpone your lesson, I would give it at least a couple of weeks. I wouldn't wish this pain on anyone. It's actually been worse than the 1st week post-op --probably because the intravenous pain meds are out of my system now.

Be sure to check with your surgeon about return to normal activity including singing.

Blessings to you -- hope things go very very well!! Keep singing but give your body time to heal.......

laurenica23 · December 28, 2008

I'm not a professional singer, but did major in music and sing in the community a lot! I had surgery the 20th and sang on the 24th. I was practicing a couple days after surgery.

I'm feeling much better since Wednesday and could probably sing higher notes now. I have the range of 2nd alto to 2nd soprano and I'd say my 2nd sop notes were much harder for me to hit. Now, I could probably hit them. So, I'd give it at least a week for the higher notes. My breath control is not as good right now but it's getting better. I'd probably expect that to go back to normal in more like 1-2 weeks.

This is my experience, though. My throat was sore after surgery from the tube and felt better 2 days after. So, I think you could sing a few days out. But if you want to sing like you can now, I'd wait 1-2 weeks. Your voice and diaphragm will thank you for it!

nymoosic · December 29, 2008

I'm not a professional performer but I am an elementary music/vocal teacher. I did notice soreness for the first few days in my throat (from anesthesia) and had quite a bit of port pain for about a month. It did affect how deeply I could breathe, but my experience with my port was not the norm from what I've been told. Good luck!