Simple question: What are the effects of the kind of swimming we do on DEGENERATIVE DISC DISEASE.
I'm nearly pain free. My C7-C6 herniation, while debilitating a few weeks ago, is only causing minor numbness and tingling in my right hand.
I cannot, for the life of me, find a competent medical authority, definitive research, or a firsthand account of how 2000-3000 yard workouts, including intervals and distance training, effect the cervical spine.
Yeah, yeah, I know that I allegedly "twist my neck" when I swim, but I also know that proper stroke technique includes rolling one's body rather than turning one's head to breath.
But my C6-C7 disc took my right arm out of commission for a while. It seems to be getting stronger. Will I ever get it back?
I want to get back in the water and start swimming soon. I was supposed to do an Alcatraz swim a couple weeks ago, and I want to do it next year. After a month off, I should start training now.
Before I started swimming, I had lower back pain that virtually disappeared when took up the sport. That was two years ago. I just can't seem to get an answer as to whether I should be swimming, or if I should not be swimming.
Thank you.
Parents
Former Member
I've been working around it for twenty years, avoiding the surgery 'cause I had seen some pretty horrific outcomes. I feel swimming is the best thing you can do- with a few provisos: limit the number of dives you do to absolute minimum, & try your best to swim with perfect technique (as best you can). Also, don't do what I've done twice in the past three years: collide coming off a full-steam backstroke turn with the guy behind you also doing sprint backstroke & who is 'cheating in' on the turn. Last time left me with extreme numbness in right arm & occasional shafts of agony for approx. 3 months (however, waiting list in BC for this type of surgery approaches 2 years; it took a year just to see a specialist. By the time I finally saw the specialist I lost patience with the drugs that were helping 'manage' the pain & went back in the water & attained gradual but marked relief). Now my original condition was caused by a car accident, but in later years described in similar terms as yours, other than one disc has gone 'hypermobile' whatever that means. I would have begged for the surgery when my arm was really hurting, but now I'm back in the water & don't want it.
I've been working around it for twenty years, avoiding the surgery 'cause I had seen some pretty horrific outcomes. I feel swimming is the best thing you can do- with a few provisos: limit the number of dives you do to absolute minimum, & try your best to swim with perfect technique (as best you can). Also, don't do what I've done twice in the past three years: collide coming off a full-steam backstroke turn with the guy behind you also doing sprint backstroke & who is 'cheating in' on the turn. Last time left me with extreme numbness in right arm & occasional shafts of agony for approx. 3 months (however, waiting list in BC for this type of surgery approaches 2 years; it took a year just to see a specialist. By the time I finally saw the specialist I lost patience with the drugs that were helping 'manage' the pain & went back in the water & attained gradual but marked relief). Now my original condition was caused by a car accident, but in later years described in similar terms as yours, other than one disc has gone 'hypermobile' whatever that means. I would have begged for the surgery when my arm was really hurting, but now I'm back in the water & don't want it.
