Continuing Activity Post-Surgery

[mgonzal]

Hello,

I have been suffering from gynecomastia most of my life (since 10yrs). I have always been a a decent weight around 175lbs (5'9"). In my high school years I weighed around 150lbs, even  this thin did not make much difference in my situation. I would workout off and on throughout the years, but was always concerned about making my gyne worse (mainly with chest workouts). For this,  I have kept myself out of the spotlight for numerous acrivities (no tank tops, not swimming, holding out on family camping trips, and much more) due to gynecomastia. This has been bothering me for TOO long and I decided to do something about it! I am 26yrs, and figured that I should have surgery performed since nothing has changed since childhood and the condition has haunted me into my adult years. I have always been a fairly active person and I am currently playing competitive Men's volleyball. 
My question is...since I know recovery can take time (3-6 weeks or longer), what would be a safe time frame to get back into the sport post surgery? I consider myself a huge asset to my team and I am sure they would agree, so I do not want to spend too much time off the court. What would be a reasonable time to start playing again? Keep in mind I only play once a week, so I will still have plenty of downtime. Also, if I jumped back in early...I wouldn't play nearly as hard as what I normally would. 

[Slamberton1]

Everyone heals differently but I think the general timeline is about 6 weeks. It's up to the surgeon tbh, so ask him how long he thinks it'll be till your back again playing sports.

[moving_on]

The surgery was the best thing I've done for myself, so hope it turns out great for you. I don't know how much work you'll have done or the techniques your surgeon will use, but I consider my work to be on the lighter medium amount. I was told to not get back into chest workouts or high impact activities until the 3 month mark. I past 2 months post-op and I played a little bit of basketball with some friends without much running around (hanged around the hoop) the other day with a compression tank top and my chest still doesn't feel like it's up to letting my arms reach as far out as they can (my left side more so).  Helped a friend practice their baseball skills, but not able to comfortably do what I'm capable of.  It's something you'll definitely have to gauge for yourself, but I think the 3 month mark is more realistic to allow optimal healing time for your chest.  Extending my arms and any running still doesn't feel right on my chest, but I plan to ease into after 3 months. I could do sports and run, but playing to my ability would not feel great for my chest.  On a more positive note, you can workout your other body parts and do low impact cardio much earlier