Swimming exercises

[hrkraatz]

How long after surgery before I can get into a pool?

[Pat Walter]

Hi

A lot depends on what your doctor will allow.  De Smet hippies that go to Belgium receive waterproof bandages and are in the pool doing water therapy 3 days after surgery.  They can also take showers right away too.

Most doctors don't use waterproof bandages in the US and you can't go into the pool until your incision is healed.  Different doctors have different protocols. I am sorry I don't know the exact answer.  I will do a search to try to find out on the large Yahoo Surface Hippy Group. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/surfacehippy/ - it is a large discussion group of over 6000+ people and they talk about many topics.

Why don't you ask the doctor you are thinking of using. I am sure even their office staff could give you an answer.

Pat

[hrkraatz]

Thank you for the quick response.My doctor's nurse said 6 weeks. It seems way too long to me. My staples were removed after 10 days and the wound seems to have healed nicely. I want to start now and will seek additional advice. Your site is very helpful. Thanks a billion. 

[Pat Walter]

Hi

Good Luck.  Just remember it is better to be a little patient and make sure you don't have any problems. 

I will tell you that after several months I got very stiff after sitting.  I would hurt when I took the first few steps and then the pain would go away.  I started pool therapy with a lot of water walking, stretches and exercises.  It worked great. Here's a page of the exercises and stretches I did.

http://www.surfacehippy.info/poolexercises.php
I did find out that too much repetitive motion ended up bothering my unoperated hip. The doctor said it was brusitis, but I know I also have OA in it too. So sometimes after you get one hip done, the other one can start to act up or even your back can cause problems.  You often don't walk properly with a bad hip and your back gets misaligned.  Then after it is repaired, you body has to get use to the new hip, etc.

Good Luck!

Pat