How Long After Blood Donation Can I Exercise (And Why)?

How Long After Blood Donation Can I Exercise (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 48 Hours

Donating blood for a good cause is one of the most positive things that an individual can do. However, after donating blood you will feel tired, and sometimes people can pass out too. It all depends on the amount of blood that you have donated which might make you feel weaker.

Donating blood can be required sometimes because if your close one has lost some blood due to some kind of accident then you could donate blood unless your blood group matches with the other person. Therefore, it is important that you keep yourself healthy always because someone could be in need of your blood.

How Long After Blood Donation Can I

How Long After Donating Blood Can I Exercise?

After donating bloodMinimum 48 hours
Bed rest if necessaryFor at least a day

You should wait for at least a day or two before you start exercising. Some people require quite some time bed rest because they feel weak and there could be a chance that the person might faint, trip, and even fall down sometimes.

Most people have the habit of exercising regularly even if they have to donate blood they will not miss out on their daily exercise. Well, this kind of attitude of a person might be dangerous sometimes because you should not do intense exercise soon after donating blood.

Well, not only after donating blood you should not exercise but whenever you receive some kind of treatment you should stay still for a while. You might be health conscious but you should be able to know how much your body can manage.

However, most doctors would recommend you not to exercise or indulge in intense exercise soon after donating blood. After donating blood most people feel weak which is a common symptom because the loss of blood makes anyone feel weak.

High-intensity workouts or exercises after donating blood might cause you to faint and it might increase the risk of bleeding out too much from the area where the needle had entered the skin. Doctors recommend their patients drink fluids and wait for at least a day after their blood donation to perform physically- strenuous activities.

Why Does It Take That Long To Exercise After Donating Blood?

Waiting for two days after donating blood is the best thing that you can do after donating blood. You must be careful after donating blood and think that it is your health that matters the most. Not only the doctors your family members would recommend you not to indulge in physical activities.

No doubt, indulging in physical activities is one of the best habits that you can make. It is best you wait for quite a while for some time and then you can start exercising soon after two to three days after donating blood.

Soon after you lose blood or donate blood your body will take some time to replace (48 hours) the blood plasma. However, it will take up to few weeks for your body to return or replace the red blood cells that you have donated.

You should not heavy-lift for at least a day or two as recommended by The American Red Cross. But, according to World Health Organization (WHO), a person should not indulge in sports or take part in strenuous activity for at least a day or two.

It is also not ok to go for a run soon after you donate blood because the blood service will ask you to avoid such things in the first place. Even if you feel good after donating blood you should not indulge in such kinds of activities.

Conclusion

In the end, you should make sure that you keep yourself healthy no matter what happens. Don’t complicate things by not listening to what your doctors have recommended you to do. It is always the best option to take a rest for a while after donating blood.

Other than that, if you are into some kind of medications then you must take extreme care of yourself before you start exercising. This would be great for your body because your body will come to normal after resting for a day or two.

Make sure you follow all the recommendations and warnings given by the doctors and other professionals. Make sure you eat properly and rest properly after donating blood.

References

  1. https://search.proquest.com/openview/3cf0444b14bdfc4ffd7b0b7a86a45fa2/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=4718
  2. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/jappl.1972.33.2.175
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Hi! I'm Nidhi.

Here at the EHL, it's all about delicious, easy recipes for casual entertaining. So come and join me at the beach, relax and enjoy the food.

30 Comments

  1. I did not know that donating blood could be so dangerous. This is informative. Thank you for the information.

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