One week early and I'm back in the water. I got cleared yesterday to stop wearing the brace and to swim. Only 3 weeks after surgery :cheerleader:. He said "don't do a mile or anything" so I only swam 1600 yds (kicked another 700) this morning. My left wrist is weak but can do well at free. Back was bad, *** was okay, didn't even try fly yet. Overall I felt :woot:
Alison
Oh no! I think you did too much to start out - I was four weeks post op before I got into the pool to walk and did that for a month, then four weeks of aerobics classes, so it was twelve weeks before I could actually swim. Give yourself a break and don't expect to just jump back into full practices at once. I did eight months of "rehab" swimming, would not go with a practice agenda like I do now, just would do my stretching and kicking and see how I felt. Are you still taking pain meds? Although I didn't appreciate the surgeon's comment at the time he knew the pain was important for me to self regulate and not do too much, not just with swimming but with daily life as well. I couldn't be on medication that masked the pain or I would do too much. It was certainly a lot slower progress than I wanted! Remember you are pacing yourself over a lifetime not just your competitive swimming career. I don't know what type of surgery you had or what the original problems were. I had ruptured L4-L5 and herniated L3-L4 to the point it also needed repair. After dealing with that and the surgery, today I am happy to be able to walk, sit stand and bend (to some extent) pain free let alone swim again. My swimming is very important to me so I understand your frustration but you are going to have to let things heal. You will get there, be patient and give yourself a break.
Oh no! I think you did too much to start out - I was four weeks post op before I got into the pool to walk and did that for a month, then four weeks of aerobics classes, so it was twelve weeks before I could actually swim. Give yourself a break and don't expect to just jump back into full practices at once. I did eight months of "rehab" swimming, would not go with a practice agenda like I do now, just would do my stretching and kicking and see how I felt. Are you still taking pain meds? Although I didn't appreciate the surgeon's comment at the time he knew the pain was important for me to self regulate and not do too much, not just with swimming but with daily life as well. I couldn't be on medication that masked the pain or I would do too much. It was certainly a lot slower progress than I wanted! Remember you are pacing yourself over a lifetime not just your competitive swimming career. I don't know what type of surgery you had or what the original problems were. I had ruptured L4-L5 and herniated L3-L4 to the point it also needed repair. After dealing with that and the surgery, today I am happy to be able to walk, sit stand and bend (to some extent) pain free let alone swim again. My swimming is very important to me so I understand your frustration but you are going to have to let things heal. You will get there, be patient and give yourself a break.
