My youngish doctor suggested swimming since I was finding walking too painful.
As you'll know from a previous post I have taken up the idea. Still in the first stages and today after a week out due to illness, blocked ear and generally too exhausted after doing a big grocery shop, I am about to go again.
I AM EXHAUSTED just getting dressed and ready....I need a lie down!
Have delegated Mark to drive me and do the other chores around the swimming. He can pick me up after. Just need to manage the even more exhausting drying and dressing after swimming.
It's all very well for a young fit man to suggest swimming, he has no idea! lol
Have a good week everyone.
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IdasMum
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So the exercise can be the prep and drying/dressing and the water bit perhaps can be a float to recover from the other two. I’ve always found swimming to tweak all sorts of stuff if I ever went, even when I was fit and did a couple stately widths to keep my hair dry. It’s underestimated!
Try aqua aerobics but make sure that the instructor knows about PMR.
BTW, buy a towelling dressing gown and put your swimsuit on before you leave the house, sit in the car................when coming out, put towelling dressing gown back on and a turban hair towel.................get in car and forget about dressing and undressing.
Good idea! I always found the activity around the swimming too much and would suffer all the rest of the day and night for 10 minutes’ swimming. Because I am essentially a water baby, I have found a solution which is to have a swimspa outside the back door and am now going in regularly and loving it. It’s really going to help me rehab after my knee replacement too.
Yes, I am a lucky girl! It is perfect as the currents provide resistance and it is 32 degrees- so warm! Good for the joints. Then, later, I can actually swim in it!
Except for the 60 yards from the car park to the entrance!!!😂
I used to put costume on at home, track suit over. Afterwards, towel gown by side of pool, relax in recliner for 20 mins or so, then knickers, track suit to go home.😂
It's true , I recommend trying Hydro , Aqua exercises or light swimming all the time , it does help , but I am more than willing to agree that it takes up your whole day of 'Spoons' , and it's often the getting ready , getting dressed again, and the travel that exhausts me more than the swimming pool itself.
You have a good plan going , making sure someone else drives you and does the domestic jobs on days when you are getting your physical therapy. That's a good plan on land as well as in the water.
If you are already exhausted though , or recovering from an infection etc. , or the weather you have to travel in is horrible and cold, it's usually a better idea to hold off on the pool and try something else instead. In our horrible winter's , it can be hard to get to go out and do any Exercise regularly not just Pool Activity , our Doctors and Physio s often don't understand this. They probably never will until they experience Chronic Illness and it's effect on Daily Energy themselves.
When you are up to it , I hope it helps you feel the benefits soon .
Quite! I find even the thought of hydrotherapy totally draining!
Maybe it is because we have to think about hair drying and they don't? Drying and dressing isn't too bad with careful selection of elasticated waist trousers and a sloppy top - I drip dry sitting in a large absorbent towel (that means old and thin, not luxurious as they never seem to dry as well!). But taking off the wet swimsuit and putting on bra and pants on a damp body is hell. Using a hairdryer on the bod helps there though ...
And I put my swimsuit on at home straight out of bed, under said trousers and top, showered at the gym - reduces that part of the agony too.
I have a zip up tankini top with in built bra and long short bottoms so it's easier to put on and take off.
It might look like I'm about to go surfing but I also wear a waterproof swim headband around my ears and edge of my hair and a baseball cap that I used to wear while swimming at the beach . Its comfier than a swim cap and means I don't get more than the odd strand of hair wet, reducing all the exhausting phaffing.
I do wish I just had a pool I could step into at home though , that would be my dream .
Couldn't care what it LOOKS like - it is plain uncomfortable! There are 2 things that go in my hand luggage when flying: my bras and my medication. Have no desire to be separated from either!
I have made too much of a fool of myself after scuba diving hopping around a car park half dressed whilst trying to get last leg out of neoprene to even bother any more. I bought a dry suit instead with a nice big zip! I was teaching a friend to dive and shes a size 30!! Clad in black neoprene did absolutely nothing for her shape and when she collapsed in a big heap on the beach whilst trying to climb up the shingle all you could see was a huge neoprene bum stuck in the air. She was helplessly giggling so it took my two daughters and OH to haul.her up. Getting her out of the wetsuit was a military operation watched by a beach full of holiday makers!!
Full neoprene up to my neck would really make me claustrophobic. Even sleeping t shirts with a round neck get cut if I accidentally order one online.
Laughing stops all your muscles working. I must read up why that happens. I come from a family of gigglers who end up doing the cha cha cha to the toilet.
I wear my suit under my clothes when I go to the pool, and enjoy a hot shower afterward. I dry off in the middle of the change room into big shirt, panties, and loose sweatpants (no bra). It’s the only time I go without a bra. Sometimes I’ve even changed right into my cozy winter pyjamas (I live right behind the complex and walk home).
I’m the lady that dries off unabashedly while others scurry to the privacy of change stalls. My daughter used to be mortified to go with me lol (while she locked herself in the bathroom stall to change, not trusting the material curtains up in the change stalls).
I keep my hair up so I don’t have to contend with drying that, unless it’s my wash day (once every 10 days or so).
Swam the equivalent of 7 lengths which is an improvement by 2 lengths. Much more exhausting getting dry and dressed. Now need to lie down and close my eyes for bit.
I will be tired later but it's no longer a spoons thing for me (almost but not quite) as I am able to recover energy used (most of it).
I am pleased Mark drove...I felt very sleepy on the way home.
Please I made the effort.
Oh and the pool here in France is pleasantly warm at 23C.
Warm at 23C, that is freezing. My pool is usually 28C which is an indoor one. The outdoor pool is 29C. There is a canteen so I can stop for a coffee and snack lunch after swimming. They supply papers so I can sit and read them. There is usually a fight for the Daily Mail!
This thread has reminded me of the sit down/stand up method of determining possible lifespan. Nicely described in this article, including exercises to help us regain lost strength and, theoretically, lengthen our lives!
I cannot do this any more. I need both hands to help me down, even. It was a mere three or four years ago that I had no trouble sitting down without using my hands, and with some effort even managed to get up once, but that took a few tries. I think my biggest problem is getting older, and that is okay isn't it because getting older means we're still here!
I haven't owned a swimsuit since some time in the 80s. I'm not about to start now! Just call me a land animal. Off for my walk now on a surprisingly balmy sunny day.
You could get one if those full length suits they have now , more stretchy and with zips in useful places. There a lot easier than the old days getting in an out if a wetsuit.
I'm not a water baby. I would not be interested in a pool, although there is a nice one in our building I could use anytime. But given a chance I might enjoy one last swim in the ocean someday. I have enough trouble getting myself dressed for the day or ready for bed. A swim would simply not be worth it, not for me. I'd rather conserve that energy for a walk in the open air!
Me too. Frequently found still in nightwear at bedtime.
I would walk in the fresh air, we're just 500 metres away from forest but it's just too painful. Swimming in the hope it builds up some muscles around the areas that are painful so I can enjoy some of our walking again.
Someone earlier (this thread is growing by the minute!) talked about having a bath. I've not been able to use a bath for at least 2 years.....no muscles to haul myself out with. Hauling myself out of the pool is precarious...hoping that too will improve.
I discovered something about modern bathtubs when I moved. In our house the tub was well designed, conducive to comfortable soaks, and easy to get out of. The one in our new place is bigger, deeper, and I had trouble getting out. I had to somehow manoeuvre myself onto my knees, and get out from there. Then I figured out that what I assumed, both in the house I had left and the new place, were arm rests for when you are reading in the tub actually work as ledges which you can use to push yourself up. Much easier than attempting to pull yourself up. So now no problems getting out of the tub!
Now my limited experience of British tubs is they are long, skinny and deep, and would indeed be hard to clamber out of.
I have the other problem I can't stretch my lanky legs out straight in my tub and have my shoulders and upper chest in the water as it isn't quite deep enough for me to be in it without having a part of me out if the water getting cold .
The water at the coast is just too cold most if the year round in the UK for me these days , which is a shame as I loved wild swimming . I think I need to move to the Southern Med instead.
My bath tub is deep and long and I can dunk everything with space. But I am 5ft 4ish. I have tried it once since 2016 and had to let the water out, plant a towel under me and pull myself up on the taps. I had restless legs so was trying to relax. I haven't tried it again and the taps have dripped since so i obviously damaged them!
Ah well, the difference between the UK and North America. I remember when my parents had a house built (1960ish) they reconfigured the original bathroom design so they could, at my father's request, fit in a longer than standard bathtub.
TWO years? Fifteen for me - and I can only use a pool with a flight of steps and handrail to get in and out. Or they would have to get the disabled hoist out for me to leave!
For the pool: a sports bra, camisole, boy shorts, quick-dry panties, slip on sneakers. Easy on, easy off. On pool days, I'm in a bathing suit once I get out of bed.
In cold weather, I usually wear this getup under sweat pants and a zip jacket, stripping off the camisole and shorts for the trip home, leaving the sports bra and panties. In warm weather, I tie a wrap dress over it. If my bottom is wet, I fold the towel into the seat of the car.
I wear my hair short, and between cuts it usually needs a bit of help to look decent. I don't bother with it after swimming, so I'll pull on a watch cap or a baseball cap.
A pair of shades and a quick stroke with tinted lip gloss, and no one runs away screaming at the look.
The day I was born, it was 103 Farenheit in NYC. Dad had gone to work, and Mom called him from the hospital. "No way am I going back to the house in Queens. I'll be at the beach house."
Four hours later, Mom and I were floating in the water.
That sounds amazing , I wasn't lucky enough to be in that position but my babies ended up in a pool within a few weeks of being born , laying on my chest like you see otters doing in the Sea.
I really miss being able to just get up and get to some water at the moment . I think I need to change my bottom floor into a pool . I would live in water if I could.
I don't think I'd go in the cold North Atlantic, but there is a coast in Nova Scotia, the Northumberland Shore, which is much more sheltered and indeed balmy at the right time of year. Of course with my luck, I'd get a swimsuit, get myself there, and find it swarming with jellyfish! Naaah, I really will stick to walking.....
Yeah, but there's chlorine and echoey noises.... Really not a pleasant sensory experience for me at all. Why is everyone trying to convince me to go swimming? I don't like it.
Me neither - with you all the way!!!! The best thing about having to leave my lovely gym when we moved here was not feeling I should be there and realising that I no longer smelt permanently of chlorine!
close enough for me. Think I inherited the love of ocean from my mother, who was born and raised in N.S. Currently we live in the middle of B.C. but after this horrendous winter, looking at real estate on Vancouver Island. If I am not going to be able to golf soon with this darn GCA, thinking walks on any kind of beach would be a life saver.
My parents-in-law came for a visit so we went there for an overnight stay. We did extraordinarily little sightseeing while were there. A friend of mine visited and we went to Butchart Gardens, which I hadn't even heard of! Hubby was teaching first year Canadian history at UVic and I was working as a clerk in the public library. I suppose it didn't cross our minds that we would never go back once we returned East. They were building the highway through the Yellowhead Pass and we drove through on our way back East. The bridges weren't finished yet, so we drove on the ones put in place for the work. I don't think I'd do anything like that again. It was wonderful. We had the road to ourselves as no one really knew about it yet. Spectacular mountains and a glorious day. Our camera was broken so the pictures didn't come out, and we shrugged our shoulders and said we'd take more pics next time. Fifity years later, not likely!
I really can't swim BUT love exercising in a heated pool. I usually use a noodle and some water weights and stand near the rail doing squats and arm/leg raises. I always feel a bit of a plonker when a 90 ish year old swims past me but carry on nevertheless.
>>>>When I get out I really like a steam room with Olbas Oil plastered all over.
I dislike going through the shower afterwards ceremony as I'm sure people (men) pee in the shower and that's how I got scabby feet once SO it's a baseball hat (usually something with a rapper logo just to be stupid) and off home.
I haven't been back to the health club since I had my ankle fusion surgery but must go back and get some exercise in the pool!
It stops the hands hurting from gripping. I don't like gripping. BTW I got the cheese grater.... I have used it twice. As long as the lump of cheese isn't too big its OK for me to hold, grates well and is easy to. Wash so far!
What an entirely entertaining and fun read this string of posts has been. I loved all the stories and quips. Thanks everyone.
As a retired and avid scuba diver I got the biggest giggle out of "Maggie's Bum" because I had no difficulty imagining the entire event! Personally, in all my years of diving I refused to wear anything more than a Lycra suit, but then again all my diving was in the South Pacific with 83F water at the top and not much cooler at depth.
These days I do go to the pool regularly when I'm back in Canada to do aqua size, but find it invigorating and have no trouble getting showered and dressed, often in something very loose and bra-less. I collapse when I get home.
Going in our own little pool to exercise here in Panama is wonderful as we have no one around us ...no suit and 82-84F.
Ah! I'm also a scuba diver and a Pisces and I also love the water. I also prefer warm temperatures but the coldest place I’ve dived was in Iceland and the water was only 2C (around 35F I think?) but it was an absolutely fantastic dive in gin clear water between the two tectonic plates....
I'm sure it was a spectacular dive! I "thought" about doing some ice diving when we lived in the Arctic, but never got passed the thought. We were fortunate to begin our diving in Papua New Guinea where we lived for over 5 years. The wreck and reef dives were beyond beautiful. We dove the Great Barrier Reef at a time when it was still fully alive and even then it didn't touch PNG. The only place we found some decent diving in our later years was Little Cayman Island. Although we did enjoy dives in other locations just because we loved the sport so much. We miss it.
Mine did too recently - the biggest obstacle for me is the stuff round about too. You have to start with a relatively small amount - all that effort for 10 minutes in the water?
One year ago I started "swimming" at a place near me. The water is only 3 feet six inches deep in most spots. there is a lazy river and some lap lanes. I have made many friends there. I do not actually swim. Swimming is so difficult and so demanding, even my super fit and healthy husband has a hard time. But, walking in the water while gently moving my arms and legs has given me a new lease on life. Just the resistance of the water is enough. It is not necessary to get in the water and flounce around like a hooked marlin.
That would kill me. But being in the water, walking in the water. I just love it. If the swimming is overwhelming you, just try walking in the water. Make sure when you walk that you bring forth the opposite arm to the leg, just like in regular walking. It will help with balance and will work to build your core.
Swimming may be too much for the shoulders....I do deep water exercises twice a week instead (built up slowly starting with doing part of one class, till I could tolerate and fully complete two per week).
You are listening to your body, which you know much better than your doctor).
I totally agree...it feels wonderful and would be great if we could magically be in the pool...and then poof, have our hair dry and dry clothes on! Wish you well!🌸🌸
I swim once a week on a Sunday at our local pool which is wonderful. I have taught myself to swim underwater now and when I am pushing myself off from the side of the pool it feels like stretching but yes dressing is the worse part getting that bloody bra on. I can’t do without one either. But I am so much better now then I was thanks to prednisone. Before diagnosis I couldn’t even get down the steps in to the pool the pain was so bad and I couldn’t lift my arms even to swim. I cried with the feeling of being so old and useless. So guys it can get better.
I think I felt less exhausted today both sides of the "swim". Exhausted now though.
I went to the Hydropool which was as warm as a bath and full of massage areas and currents. Lots of retried looking people in there and very busy. At almost 15 euros a session (which includes a sauna and Jacuzzi) not an everyday pursuit.
I feel I had a bit of a work out, even using the under water cycle for 5 mins.
There was a fierce shoulder massage contraption which look fearsome on the younger couple using them whilst I waited my turn. Their necks were really red. When I got there finally I was very careful and decided I'd regret it for weeks if I'd continued, so I moved on.
Was fascinated by the feeling as the buoyancy left me as I left the pool via shallow steps.
As I was preparing supper this evening and dropping utensils on the floor (as usual) I noticed I reach down more easily and without the usual groan! Maybe this swimming lark is working.
(I know I've spelt retired wrong up there but I like the sound of retried people :D)
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Outdoor swimming, pred, cataracts and tinted goggles!
PET scan & blood test showed no inflammation so Rheumatologist said I don’t have PMR & he cannot justify giving me any more Pred 🥲
ENT doctor said I have “terrible” TMJ
What my rheumy said yesterday - you may not like this!
