What is recovery like after pacemaker surgery?

So after your pacemaker, it wouldn't be uncommon that you might have a little bit of discomfort in the area where we've made the incision for a day or two. Typically we recommend all that you might need is simple paracetamol taken regularly for the first few days and for almost everybody that is sufficient to manage the pain. We do have a few things that are quite particular to a pacemaker that we need to let you know about though. First of all you're not allowed to drive by law for at least one week after the pacemaker has been implanted but certainly as a clinician myself I recommend that we don't let you drive if we can for two to three weeks whilst we really make sure that you've fully recovered from the procedure. If you can imagine that the leads run from here down into the heart, we also have some peculiarities that we need to let you know about arm movements on the side that the pacemaker has put in that we ask you to avoid for the first four weeks or so and that is to make sure that the leads have the best chance of bedding in and that the pacemaker is able to move the pacemaker in and out of the pacemaker. So that they don't move from the position that we put them in. If you can imagine that my pacemaker lead is my hand and if you bring your arm above your shoulder there's a small chance that lead could pull out of position which we do not want because if that does happen sometimes we have to perform a repeat procedure to reposition the lead so we say to you for the first few weeks not to carry anything heavy with this left arm and to avoid bringing it above the shoulder if you can. It means getting dressed for example you have to think about it a little bit but certainly almost everybody manages without issue and you can discuss some tips and tricks with your consultant on the day as needs be. Another thing people typically ask is when can I go back to work so to be honest with you if you work from home the next day you may well be up for working from home I'd probably take a few days off before you travel into work but the biggest issue is regarding the arm movement and a little bit of discomfort in the shoulder. The final thing to mention in your recovery another thing people ask is about flying typically would not apply as a minimum for at least a week but probably if you can give yourselves another few weeks until you've seen your consultant at around three to four weeks after the procedure confirm that everything is functioning as it should be and then hopefully that would be the best green light if you like to start traveling again.