Broken foot

I had foot surgery several years ago and was told to stay out of the water 6 weeks. After discussion and negotiation, it became 3 weeks. The doctor's fear was of it getting hit. Instead of going to a workout, I swam alone and pushed off with one foot as you mentioned.

I am a firm believer of continuing to utilize a hurt area of the body when it is ailing. Generally speaking, I find that "walking it off" works better than just sitting around. The activity gives your body a chance to keep the blood flowing to the affected region, and gives all the muscles, tendons, etc. a chance to keep normal action going so they don't atrophy, tighten, etc. I did swim 6 months over the course of the last two years with casts on my wrists. Now I did hurt my shoulder as a side effect of trying to dry the thing by excessive windmilling. But nevertheless, I felt that the best progress was being made in recovery while I was actually swimming (as opposed to simply kicking my workouts). I am always wary of "don't do any activity" coming from the doctors - but they're getting paid the big bucks for a reason. If you do get back in the pool - BE CAREFUL :)

I raced in the Commonwealth games with a broken foot they tapped my ankle and foot I raced in 4 events with it. 3 Relays and the 100 free.

MSCJ: I swam with a stress fracture in my ankle -- no problem. Just had to do some one footed flip turns and didn't do breaststroke for awhile. My daughter broker her foot playing soccer. No problem -- she used a pull buoy and didn't do breaststroke or kicking for awhile and was careful. Her shoulders were a little achy from using the pull buoy a lot. But in general she kept going. She had one tough month and was in peak condition 2 months later. Now she's a kid, and they heal faster. But stopping and resting completely? I agree with Jeff: usually not a good idea. Better to exercise the effected site. Leslie

MSCJ: I swam with a stress fracture in my ankle -- no problem. Just had to do some one footed flip turns and didn't do breaststroke for awhile. My daughter broker her foot playing soccer. No problem -- she used a pull buoy and didn't do breaststroke or kicking for awhile and was careful. Her shoulders were a little achy from using the pull buoy a lot. But in general she kept going. She had one tough month and was in peak condition 2 months later. Now she's a kid, and they heal faster. But stopping and resting completely? I agree with Jeff: usually not a good idea. Better to exercise the effected site. Leslie and i agree with leslie agreeing with jeff. right now my shoulder is all out of whack. i know it would probably fully heal much more quickly if i took time off completely, but i also know that it would probably tighten up and feel even worse once i did finally get back in the water. so i'm just trying to take it easy when it starts to really hurt. i did the same thing as a kid when i ended up with shoulder tendinitis (in both shoulders simultaneously) as a high school junior, and here i am 8 years later, still able to swim 5000 yds/workout, typically pain free. i just *now* know when to listen to my body. :)

Mollie: It might "heal much more quickly" if you took time off. But the minute you got back in the water it would return right quick, I bet. Better to ease off when it's aching and do other strokes and some kicking. That's what I did this week after overdoing it. Leslie

I broke my foot very badly back in May -- I was hit by a truck and knocked backwards, and the truck rolled over my foot. My first two metatarsals were crushed, and I have a "Lisfranc" fracture of the midfoot -- a particularly nasty dislocation. I was in Geneva, Switzerland when this happened (I live in Arizona), which added to the whole adventure, but I eventually had surgery here in AZ. After the surgery I had about 6 weeks non-weight bearing where I did not swim, and then about 6 weeks in a walking boot. During the walking boot phase I was able to swim with a pull buoy, doing one-footed turns. I had some scars and skin grafts on my foot that I thought would freak people out, so while I swam I wore a neoprene booty that I got at a dive shop. It turned out that this also helped me remember not to push off on turns, and served as something of a caution flag for other swimmers in my workouts. I did get bumped once inadvertantly while treading water between sets, but no significant damage done; the incident did scare me, though. It's really just now, five months later, that I feel I'm swimming pretty normally (i.e., I can push off pretty well on turns, dive in from the side if I want to, kick with fins). My foot still hurts when I walk, and the jury is still out on whether I'll be able to run again (I had run a marathon earlier in the year, and had been more serious about running than swimming for the past several years). I'm glad I have swimming to fall back on. A fun swimming-related anecdote in connection with all of this: I sat in a hospital bed in Geneva with my mangled foot, thumbtyping messages on my Blackberry trying to figure out how to get back to AZ and what doctor to see. I eventually learned of a particular doctor who is considered the best foot surgeon in Phoenix (he does the high-profile pro athletes, etc.) and managed the logistics of getting home and getting to see him. I showed up in his office, and discovered that I knew him from masters swimming: we had swum regularly in the same noon workout at Brophy East (then Phoenix Swim Club) years ago, but only knew each other by sight. He's still an avid masters swimmer, so he certainly "got it" concerning my interest in getting back in the pool. --Brad