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How Sore Are Your Chest Muscles After Heart Surgery?

Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Page Last Updated: June 7, 2025

Every so often I receive an email that really makes me remember my heart valve surgery experience, especially the recovery.

Some of those memories are joyful. And, some of those are.... well... not so joyful.

This blog is in response to an email that reads, "How sore are your chest muscles after heart surgery?"

Hmmmmm. To answer that question, I have to let you know that there are many different types of heart surgery - some procedures require the sternum to be split and some heart surgeries are noninvasive that do not require "chest cracking". There are also transcatheter procedures that do not require an incision to the patient's chest or ribs.

My aortic and pulmonary valve replacements surgery (the Ross Procedure) required my chest bone to be broken to give the surgeon better access to my heart.

That said, I will respond to the question about chest muscles after surgery from my own personal perspective. Make sense? Okay. Here goes.

"Owwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Yep. That about sums it up! I could go on and on but I won't. So you know, I have interviewed hundreds of patients about their chest muscles after heart surgery and they all basically say the same thing, "It hurts! But, sore chest muscles after heart surgery is a small pain for a long-term gain!"

Here's the good news... There are many new medical advances that are making heart surgery recovery much more comfortable for patients. In fact, some patients suggest they are no longer experiencing pain after surgery and many do not take any form of opioids after their procedure.

To learn all about these new techniques for managing pain after heart surgery, please review these links:

Keep on tickin!
Adam

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Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

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