First and foremost **listen to your doctors advice** - if they say don't spar - don't spar!

If you are unable to spar for medical reasons - it should be removed from your tests (with something else added in its place) - there is plenty to do in Taekwondo (and almost every martial art) that does not require sparring and there are techniques and skills involved that you can still excel in!

Just ensure that you **have an open discussion with your instructors** about this, if they are unwilling to bend their classes to suit your needs then perhaps finding a school that will is best.

If you are able to spar and are still worried about contact to that area - **look at what additional protection** is available - your instructors may be able to help with this, a hogu might be a good place to start. I wear a full back protector in competition (and sparring training) to protect an old injury, other than declaring it when I enter tournaments (both to the chief umpire before the start and the referees on my ring before competing) it is never a problem.