I was wondering if anyone else ever got relief from sitting in a pool or hot tub? I was on vacation with my husband and kids last week and I had an opportunity to just sit in water up to my collar bone. I was given a "noodle" to sit on by a friend because I can not swim. I was amazed after about 20 minutes how much better my arm and shoulder felt. This seemed to work each day and lasted for several hours after getting out of the water.

I was so amazed by this that I actually started looking at pools in my area, trying out a hot tub, etc. I really wanted to know if anyone else has felt relief in the water? Oh, one more thing, I tried to duplicate this in the bathtub today, it did not work. For me, it was the position of sitting on that noodle. Standing in the water did not help either. I am puzzled.

Maybe some of it was because the noodle sank a certain amount due to your weight, and when the water level happened to be at collarbone level , it took the weight & pressure of your arms off the upper back & surrounding muscles?

wow this is pretty genius

My surgeon has recommended water therapy, either pool or hot tub. I don't have access to either, so didn't get further than that. There is definitely something there, though...

My arm, shoulder, neck is in so much pain I am miserable. So I got on the telephone today and called several places that sell hot tubs. One larger chain lets you bring a bathing suit with you if you make an appointment in advance and they allow you to sit in a private room to try out the tub. I am going to try this next Saturday to see if I can find some relief in a hot tub the way I found it in the pool. I told the sales person that I needed to be able to have the water come up to my collar bone. He said that several of the models have seats that allow you to sit low enough for water to come up to the neck. I sure hope this will provide some relief. I don't know if sitting on a hard seat will make a difference compared to sitting weightless on a noodle, but I am willing to give it a try.

I see my vascular surgeon tomorrow and I will discuss this with him. He had suggested that I try swimming months ago, which I did. However, I can't swim and I am not in good physical shape so all I was able to do was to crank my neck out of the water while I did the doggie paddle manuver. It hurt my neck, back, arm and was miserable. But sitting in the noodle was way different. I will let you know what he says tomorrow.

There's also the walk/step in tub if you might use something like that more.
http://www.arwholesale.com/step_in_tub.php#

http://www.remainactive.com/

My surgeon recommended starting my day and ending my day in a hot tub. Relaxing for the muscles - less spasms. Just be careful not to overheat - this can cause tissues to swell a bit which isn't helpful. After a good soak, some stretching.

ahhhh!

Funny you should mention a hot tub. I scheduled an appointment yesterday to test a hot tub at a store which sells lots of spas, pools and things like that. My husband and I tried it out for about 30 minutes. I did notice the deep ache in my back and shoulders (and hips and knees) did reduce a great deal and stayed less painful all day. I did not feel that great in the hot tub though. I kept feeling too hot and a little light headed. I had them set the temperature to 98 degrees the night before so that it would not be too hot. The heat was not comfortable for me but my husband loved it.

I have to say if I could tolerate being in the hot tub daily, the result might be a good one for pain relief. I feel much better in a therapy warm water pool compared to the hot tub. I tried an exercise class in a therapy pool at a local club on Friday and it felt great. The temperature was 90 degrees so I never felt light headed. However, my legs, shoulders, back and neck hurt like crazy after an hour in the therapy pool doing the light water exercises with the class. I felt much better while I was in the pool, but not so good after I got out.

Both types of water therapy felt really good on my aching arm. The buoyancy of the hydrotherapy is wonderful for that type of TOS pain (in my case).

I have had my hot tub, not a big one, in my garage for years now. It is the best thing for my flares and pain. THe weightlessness, pulsating jets to massage and heat to the bones is great.

In the summer I do not have it filled. we have a 16' x 4' Intex that goes up in June until late August or Sept 1st. I have 3 black hoses on the top of our old motorhome with a pump coming out of the pool, circulate the water through the hoses and return to the pool. The avg temp is 85* in the northeast PA mts.

I could not get in cold water kills the fybromyalgia along with TOS and severe lumbar./cervical issues. I get tune up with PT with a heated pool. I walk laps, range of motion and end suspened from the noodels. For one thing gravity allows everything to loosed and hang down instead of the pressure of hold up.

After that, I get a great massage with a deep menthol product keeping my flares down and meds reduced. Gas prices and the travel to a place with a heated pool restrict me, but great start for anyone to see if the aqua therapy helps them.

Several years ago, I started with water therapy. I want to say the pool was heated to 94. It was probably the most beneficial thing I found at the time. It knocked out the constant neuro thumping in my body. Because it was so helpful, we got a hot tub about 1 1/2 years ago. My morning routine consists of a soak with jets on full force (99 degrees) and then a speed walk on the treadmill. I then finish off with my TOS related exercises. Everything feels so much better afterwards.

I don't like tubs which are really hot (103+). I never did before TOS, so I don't think it's related. For me, 99 degrees is therapeutic, yet I can tolerate it for 15 minutes or so.