Hi All - I'm a late onset adult swimmer, meaning I hadn't been in a pool for decades but a few years ago got turned on to open water swimming. For the past couple of years, I was swimming 2 miles/day freestyle about 3 or 4 days/week, with a few open water lake/river/ocean swims in the summer. Not that I go particularly fast (those 2 miles take me just shy of an hour) but it felt so good! And it's the only sport I figured was sustainable and not overly demanding on my bum knees...
But now my 50 yr old shoulder evidently has decided that may not be such a good idea, and I've got a massive rotator cuff tear (as documented by an unequivocal MRI) and have been advised to have surgery.
Does anyone have thoughts on this? Anything I should do before or after surgery to skew the odds to get back into swimming and avoid re-injury?
Does anyone know a good rehab in Westchester County or NYC with someone who knows about swimming? I'd prefer to rehab smart and targeted, rather than otherwise... And I really need to get back in the water... I'm getting fat and sad! All suggestions very very welcome!
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But now my 50 yr old shoulder evidently has decided that may not be such a good idea, and I've got a massive rotator cuff tear (as documented by an unequivocal MRI) and have been advised to have surgery.
Does anyone have thoughts on this? Anything I should do before or after surgery to skew the odds to get back into swimming and avoid re-injury?
I've had rotator cuff problems.
You might want to get a non-surgeon's opinion on whether to get surgery or not. A physiatrist or a non-surgeon sports medicine doc could be helpful.
I've worked in an orthopedic OR. I would never get ortho surgery without the recommendation of a non-surgeon.
Physical therapy will be what makes or breaks you, whether or not you have surgery. (This seems to be my day to hawk PTs.)
Recovery is likely very slow - perhaps a matter of years, not weeks or months. For me it was about 2 years, when I was in my 30's.
If you get a set of PT exercises, keep doing them after the PT ends. At 50 y.o., you might be wise to make them habits for the duration.
I'm 59 and I would love to be able to get 2 miles in under an hour.
But now my 50 yr old shoulder evidently has decided that may not be such a good idea, and I've got a massive rotator cuff tear (as documented by an unequivocal MRI) and have been advised to have surgery.
Does anyone have thoughts on this? Anything I should do before or after surgery to skew the odds to get back into swimming and avoid re-injury?
I've had rotator cuff problems.
You might want to get a non-surgeon's opinion on whether to get surgery or not. A physiatrist or a non-surgeon sports medicine doc could be helpful.
I've worked in an orthopedic OR. I would never get ortho surgery without the recommendation of a non-surgeon.
Physical therapy will be what makes or breaks you, whether or not you have surgery. (This seems to be my day to hawk PTs.)
Recovery is likely very slow - perhaps a matter of years, not weeks or months. For me it was about 2 years, when I was in my 30's.
If you get a set of PT exercises, keep doing them after the PT ends. At 50 y.o., you might be wise to make them habits for the duration.
I'm 59 and I would love to be able to get 2 miles in under an hour.
