Will I ever swim again?

You can and will.But listen to both your doctor and your body.What you will hear will sometimes be frustrating,other times encouraging.It comes with the territory of suffering a serious injury.Do not expect your body to work the way you remember it could,instead aproach it as a clean slate. Make sure both your Dr and PT know what physical activity you were used to,what your goal is once your injury has healed and that both work with you in getting there. After an injury a year ago,I was stuck with a surgeon who more or less rendered me immobile for 2 month and then refused to clear me for PT once my cast came off,and when I finaly forced the issue he wouldn't consent to half the stuff the PT was proposing.Needless to say,with each month I became more concerned that I saw very little if any progress yet he saw nothing wrong with that.I switched both surgeon and PT and was imediately put on a plan to regain my ability to run,and swim,and bike.I made clear that at 40 I was not ready to spend the rest of my life with a limp and unable to do normal daily activities,yet on my own I did not know HOW to change that and WHAT types of excersizes to do.I am back in the pool,swim a couple of miles a week-though my technique is still wonky,but improving,and I'm rediscovering my endurance by biking and running.I may never be back to 100%,but each day I DO something active I get closer to it.

Thanks everyone I appreciate your encouragement and support. Lainey

I've torn the ligaments in both of my shoulders right after receiving a scholarship to swim-- so I feel your pain when you think that you'll never swim again.. But just talk to your doctor and even a sports medicine trainer. They'll both tell you when you can start getting back into the pool and how hard to push it. I personally had 11 months of surgeries and rehab but I'm swimming at a level that I'm both very comfortable with and that helps me to keep an active lifestyle. But keep at it! fortunately swimming is a very low-resistance workout so after a while you'll find that swimming is good for your injuries as opposed to injuries sustained from running, biking, etc.. If you have any other questions feel free to ask and I wish you well on your road to recovery!

I broke both shoulders last March at the humerus head. The bone was in place so I didn't have surgery. My doctor told me that he didn't think I would be able to swim anything except breaststroke after they healed. It has taken a while and there has been some pain but I am mostly recovered. I still have some pain in one shoulder when I swim fly but it is getting better all the time. I am back to about the weekly yardage that I did before the accident and, most importantly, I am not limited to breastroke. Good luck with your recovery.

so glad to hear some of you have recovered from similar injuries. Thanks so much for the encouragement! Lainey

Some of my back ground, Hip replaced in 1999:cane:. again replaced in 2007 :cane:, hip surgery on same hip in 2011:cane:. Still swimming all team practices after rehab, with some limits, but still hanging in there! YES , ask the Doc. when you can start to get back into the pool. Start slowly & enjoy the water again.

Lainey- you will do it.

If it helps , I'll be 66:cake::cake::cake::cake::cake::cake:::2cents: April 7th !!

Both of those injuries sound like things can heal although it will take time. Just don't try to push it and with time, I think you'll be back in the pool in no time. Did they do anything with your knee injury or are they just letting it heal? __________________ Tabitha - busy swimming at the many swimming pools Little Rock

I should think if the arm were secured to your body, you might be able to do aquajogging to get that nice, I'm-in-the-water feeling. Lainey, I am big believer in trying to stay in the water with your teammates (if you swim on a team) in any way you can. ViveBene's idea is great, but what about taking this a step further? Someone probably makes the equivalent of a waterproof ACE bandage that you could use to keep you injured arm from flapping around too much. Then purchase a swim snorkel and some fins and work on your kick. I once had the chance to interview the great Lenny Krazelburg, Olympic backstroker, who had shoulder surgery (for the second or third time) in the months leading up to Trials. He spent the time training only his kick. I remember him saying that he would do repeat 8 x 200 LCM on some absurdly short interval, kicking each 15 m off the way underwater, while wearing tennis shoes! Just because your arms are impaired for a while doesn't mean you can work on your kick!