[Klaus]

Hullo brain buddies

Following extreme feelings of my head being fragile and vulnerable to any jolting or movement for months, even from walking around, I had a go at swimming recently.

I was nervous as I felt that not only the movement from bobbing around but also the increased blood flow from exercise might cause symptoms. However I gave it a go tentatively.

I found that not only could I swim fine, but that my feelings of fragility and vulnerability to jolting reduced in everyday life too. I can now walk around without having to wear my most cushioned pair of running shoes, and feel ok.

I don't know whether this was because some healing had taken place, but my anxiety had been too much to test it out?
Or whether the bobbing around from swimming somehow taught my brain that a bit of movement was ok, and wouldn't cause further injury?

Either way it was beneficial, and others may want to try it. Be careful though, start slowly and be prepared to stop if it makes things worse.

All the best.

[Mark in Idaho]

I've done some water exercise. One of the benefits is your head can be supported by floatation so you can relax your neck muscles. This may allow the neck to decrease any inflammation. The low impact twisting of the neck and upper spine may also help with cervical spine issues.

The low impact exercise can be good. I did lunging. I would lunge (walk with strong leg pushing) the length of the pool for almost an hour. I did almost 50 25m lengths in 45 to 50 minutes. That is about 3/4's of a mile.

Unfortunately, access to the gym and pool is no longer included in my health care plan. I have not tried the new pool that is much farther away.

[Eowyn]

I've been doing pool therapy -- not directly for PCS but for the sciatica that came on while I was recovering. They have me in a pool with a treadmill and then are teaching me other exercises I can do independently in a community pool.

I love it!! I definitely feel better when I exercise, this is good total-body work, and there is NO impact.

I think that regular swimming might be too much exertion, but walking and doing suspended biking in the water is AMAZING.

[greenfrog]

I am really looking forward to getting in the pool eventually. I've been walking more recently (close to an hour a day), so I'm feeling more hopeful about trying different forms of exercise down the road.

The two concussion specialists I've talked to said that pool work can be good, but be careful of too much pronounced head movement (in classic freestyle, for example), at least early on. One of them also commented that swimming can involve more exertion than people think, as you're essentially hauling a large and heavy mass of water with certain strokes.