A few days ago I fell down my basement stairs (bedumbedumbedumbump - Hey Dad! that was funny!) and it looks like I cracked a rib. This is not fun, at all.
I asked the doctor if I could 'swim when I felt up to it' and he looked at me like I was crazy - apparantly he feels I could poke a re-cracked rib into my lungs, or something. It is the case that the only time I think I can swim is after I take my Vicodin (and then, fortunately, I fall asleep) but this does seem like an unlikely event to make me stay out of the water for a month or more.
Anyway, is there any experience or doctorly advice for me? I really don't see how I can swim right now - even if I float and kick, the wall seems like Mt. Capitan, but what about later?
Life is so dull, now, and kind of fuzzy . . .
Parents
Former Member
hey, Phil
It apppears you're looking for something to do in the water that is tolerable while recovering from broken ribs. If you can manage to negotiate the ladder getting into and out of the pool this might be worth a try.
I better start with a little background. A few years ago Fitness Swimmer magazine had an article about Tom Boettcher that inspired me to look on swimming from several aspects that were new to me. Tom is the guy who swims the open water 5K Big Shoulders Meet in Lake Michigan, going the whole way using the butterfly stroke exclusively. (He has a website called simply, Infolocus, in case you're interested). But to my point, one of the things I developed for my self was to be absolutely "at home" in the water. Thus it was that for long stretches I did nothing but vertical dolphination with no hand or arm motion whatever. From that leg and aerobic exercise I progressed (?) to floating vertically by hyperextending my neck backwards.
And from this floating position, eventually, I found the "middle-ground" between vertical floating and vertical dolphination. Thus, I took up the drill of nodding slowly and rhythmically, exhaling with chin to chest, "blowing bubbles", and inhaling when the mouth is completely clear. This, all with no motion other than the neck's nodding of the head.
It is helpful to have access to a corner of the diving well for this, especially if the water is warmer. In any case, you'll be glad if you wear a silicone swim cap. And remember, diaphraghmatic breathing could be easier on the ribs than intercostal.
p.s. Sorry that you'll have to miss the big meet at UNLV next month!;)
hey, Phil
It apppears you're looking for something to do in the water that is tolerable while recovering from broken ribs. If you can manage to negotiate the ladder getting into and out of the pool this might be worth a try.
I better start with a little background. A few years ago Fitness Swimmer magazine had an article about Tom Boettcher that inspired me to look on swimming from several aspects that were new to me. Tom is the guy who swims the open water 5K Big Shoulders Meet in Lake Michigan, going the whole way using the butterfly stroke exclusively. (He has a website called simply, Infolocus, in case you're interested). But to my point, one of the things I developed for my self was to be absolutely "at home" in the water. Thus it was that for long stretches I did nothing but vertical dolphination with no hand or arm motion whatever. From that leg and aerobic exercise I progressed (?) to floating vertically by hyperextending my neck backwards.
And from this floating position, eventually, I found the "middle-ground" between vertical floating and vertical dolphination. Thus, I took up the drill of nodding slowly and rhythmically, exhaling with chin to chest, "blowing bubbles", and inhaling when the mouth is completely clear. This, all with no motion other than the neck's nodding of the head.
It is helpful to have access to a corner of the diving well for this, especially if the water is warmer. In any case, you'll be glad if you wear a silicone swim cap. And remember, diaphraghmatic breathing could be easier on the ribs than intercostal.
p.s. Sorry that you'll have to miss the big meet at UNLV next month!;)
