How long before exercising? how long after appendectomy before returning to lifting weights?

This : This will depend on the type of appendectomy you had performed and the individual practice of your surgeon. Always get their recommendation. There are different recommendations for those undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy versus open appendectomy because of the location of the incisions. Usually those undergoing a laparoscopic appendectomy can return to the gym sooner. The time frame will vary depending on your surgeon's practice from 2 weeks to 6 weeks. Much of this depends on size of incision, strength of the tissues, and vigor of the exercise. For heavy weight lifting stick to the longer restriction, you can do other exercise (that doesn't use your core) in the mean time. The reason to avoid lifting weights in the first few weeks is that the incision penetrates your abdominal muscles (external oblique, internal oblique, and transversalis) and while they are sewn back together they are weakened and need time to heal without being under strain. Exercising too soon can potentially lead to the muscles reopening and while it is unlikely your wound would reopen you can get a weakening of the abdominal wall in that spot which can lead to an incisional hernia. This can be a long term problem and potentially even require another surgery. A general rule of thumb is not to do anything that causes you more pain.

Six weeks: You will be about 60% healed then. Check w your surgeon as they may have a reason to shorten or prolong it. Good luck.