Swimming with health issues - share your stories?

I grew up on a lake and have swum all my life, but I was never a "competitive" swimmer or member of a swim team until two years ago, when I joined a masters group. During the first year, we were lucky enough to have practice five days a week, for an hour and a half each day (since reduced to three days a week). I attended almost every practice. At first I had a hard time keeping up, even in the slow lane. I often went home and had trouble falling asleep because the ache in my shoulders was so bad. Then someone told me to ice them and take Ibuprofen, which seemed to do the trick. Eventually, I stopped getting the ache in my shoulders, and at the same time, I began to swim faster. Obviously, my stroke had become much more efficient, thanks to my excellent coaches. I also began to notice other physical changes—my shoulders were noticeably broader, my stomach somewhat flatter (though still a ways to go!). That first spring, my teammates urged me to take part in the regional championships. I was pretty dubious, never having competed in any kind of sport before, but everyone said it would be fun, and it was. I LOVED it! Even though I knew there was nothing at stake, I wanted to do my best, and the excitement I felt on the starting block pushed me to go all out. Well, I didn't win any races (unless you count the one where I was the only participant in my age group), but I did get some times—my first ever! However, the next day I slowly became aware of an unusual sensation in my groin—not really a pain, or if a pain, no more than a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. The best way I can describe it is that is was as if I had been riding a 10-speed bicycle for hours (not something I often do) and when I got off, my crotch was numb. Only the numbness wasn't going away! I don't know why, but I decided maybe I was about to pass a kidney stone (I'd passed one several years before, but that's another story!) I saw my doc, who thought a kidney stone was pretty unlikely, given my symptoms. She thought I might instead be having a prostate problem (I'm 59). She sent me to a urologist, another female (this is important!), who did an examination and performed some tests. She said I didn't appear to have a prostate problem (thank god—you can imagine how I was sweating) and gave a diagnosis of "persistent pelvic pain syndrome," a sort of catch-all diagnosis for when nothing else appears to fit the symptoms. She said she could prescribe a medication that would handle the problem (or maybe just disguise it) or, since I seemed to be more concerned than most about maintaining my physical fitness, she could send me to a physiotherapist. Thus entered the third female health-care provider in the saga of my cure. After listening to my history, the physio told me that what she thought was going on was that my swim training had strengthened some parts of my body but not others—in other words, that my muscles had developed unevenly. The weak link was my pelvic floor, and the extra exertion of the swim meet had put undue stress on it, sending it into spasm. (Did I mention this lady mainly treats female patients who experience weakness in the nether regions, usually after childbirth?) The treatment had several components. The first was massage—to loosen the muscles and get them to stop spasming. This, she did very delicately, given the location of the problem (she kept saying, "Stop me if you're uncomfortable with this," while I kept replying "I don't care where you touch, I just want the numbness to go away.") The second component was to teach me "pelvic floor awareness." She gave me some exercises that isolate the pelvic floor muscles (the famous Kegels!) She also hooked me up to a biofeedback device (lots of wires taped to unmentionable places—I looked like the Abu Graib guy) that showed me when my efforts were having their intended effect. Altogether, I had maybe 6 sessions with her. She gave me lots more exercises, some with bands and some with the stability ball. My favorites were the Kegels, though, because I could do them while sitting in the car at a stoplight or when walking from the car to the pool (little did passersby know, or so I hoped!) At my last session, she said I didn't need her anymore, and that if I kept up with the exercises, the numbness would gradually go away. And that is what happened, almost without my realizing it. This year, I swam the regional champs again. I still didn't win anything (nor did I expect to), but I improved my times. More importantly, I didn't experience a reoccurrence of the numbness in my groin, something that had been much on my mind in the weeks leading up to the meet. I can't help wondering whether if I had had a male GP, or had gone to see a male urologist, I would have got the same treatment for what is primarily seen as a "female" condition. At any rate, I am profoundly grateful to the three women who effected my cure.

I grew up on a lake and have swum all my life, but I was never a "competitive" swimmer or member of a swim team until two years ago, when I joined a masters group. During the first year, we were lucky enough to have practice five days a week, for an hour and a half each day (since reduced to three days a week). I attended almost every practice. At first I had a hard time keeping up, even in the slow lane. I often went home and had trouble falling asleep because the ache in my shoulders was so bad. Then someone told me to ice them and take Ibuprofen, which seemed to do the trick. Eventually, I stopped getting the ache in my shoulders, and at the same time, I began to swim faster. Obviously, my stroke had become much more efficient, thanks to my excellent coaches. I also began to notice other physical changes—my shoulders were noticeably broader, my stomach somewhat flatter (though still a ways to go!). That first spring, my teammates urged me to take part in the regional championships. I was pretty dubious, never having competed in any kind of sport before, but everyone said it would be fun, and it was. I LOVED it! Even though I knew there was nothing at stake, I wanted to do my best, and the excitement I felt on the starting block pushed me to go all out. Well, I didn't win any races (unless you count the one where I was the only participant in my age group), but I did get some times—my first ever! However, the next day I slowly became aware of an unusual sensation in my groin—not really a pain, or if a pain, no more than a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. The best way I can describe it is that is was as if I had been riding a 10-speed bicycle for hours (not something I often do) and when I got off, my crotch was numb. Only the numbness wasn't going away! I don't know why, but I decided maybe I was about to pass a kidney stone (I'd passed one several years before, but that's another story!) I saw my doc, who thought a kidney stone was pretty unlikely, given my symptoms. She thought I might instead be having a prostate problem (I'm 59). She sent me to a urologist, another female (this is important!), who did an examination and performed some tests. She said I didn't appear to have a prostate problem (thank god—you can imagine how I was sweating) and gave a diagnosis of "persistent pelvic pain syndrome," a sort of catch-all diagnosis for when nothing else appears to fit the symptoms. She said she could prescribe a medication that would handle the problem (or maybe just disguise it) or, since I seemed to be more concerned than most about maintaining my physical fitness, she could send me to a physiotherapist. Thus entered the third female health-care provider in the saga of my cure. After listening to my history, the physio told me that what she thought was going on was that my swim training had strengthened some parts of my body but not others—in other words, that my muscles had developed unevenly. The weak link was my pelvic floor, and the extra exertion of the swim meet had put undue stress on it, sending it into spasm. (Did I mention this lady mainly treats female patients who experience weakness in the nether regions, usually after childbirth?) The treatment had several components. The first was massage—to loosen the muscles and get them to stop spasming. This, she did very delicately, given the location of the problem (she kept saying, "Stop me if you're uncomfortable with this," while I kept replying "I don't care where you touch, I just want the numbness to go away.") The second component was to teach me "pelvic floor awareness." She gave me some exercises that isolate the pelvic floor muscles (the famous Kegels!) She also hooked me up to a biofeedback device (lots of wires taped to unmentionable places—I looked like the Abu Graib guy) that showed me when my efforts were having their intended effect. Altogether, I had maybe 6 sessions with her. She gave me lots more exercises, some with bands and some with the stability ball. My favorites were the Kegels, though, because I could do them while sitting in the car at a stoplight or when walking from the car to the pool (little did passersby know, or so I hoped!) At my last session, she said I didn't need her anymore, and that if I kept up with the exercises, the numbness would gradually go away. And that is what happened, almost without my realizing it. This year, I swam the regional champs again. I still didn't win anything (nor did I expect to), but I improved my times. More importantly, I didn't experience a reoccurrence of the numbness in my groin, something that had been much on my mind in the weeks leading up to the meet. I can't help wondering whether if I had had a male GP, or had gone to see a male urologist, I would have got the same treatment for what is primarily seen as a "female" condition. At any rate, I am profoundly grateful to the three women who effected my cure.