I am swimming 3-4 times a week now, for over a month now and I’m not sure if it is because I have been moving my body if ways I haven’t in such a long time, and even though I am seeing amazing results from swimming; I can breathe easier, move easier, swim smoother and easier. I was steadily improving my time and swimming farther and for longer periods of time. The drive to the pool is a distant hindrance because getting in the pool, now, is such a joy.
About a year and a half ago I went through in tense physical therapy for my SI joint - more than 6 months of steady, excruciating therapy so I could walk without pain; so I could walk, period. I continued to exercise for awhile at home but then I let it go, little by little. I was walking good, moving good. I’d even begun walking and increasing my steps. I didn’t hesitate to do things because I could. But, I guess over time those same joints and muscles I had therapy for began to atrophy again. Swimming laps slowly began to reveal where my body stood. The excruciating, debilitating pain in my right SI joint is gone, but now my left SI joint is under the same kind of crushing, agonizing pain.
I can still swim, thankfully. But, I swim with mild pain that makes swimming - well - not so enjoyable. And, walking is getting more and more difficult. I cried when I talked this over with Jeff and he reminded me how I’d let those exercises go and that swimming again is only aggravating all the muscles and tendons and joints. I realized this pain, returning... was my own fault. I cried, in agony. I felt defeated. Overwhelmed. In pain I went to the pool. And, then I began physical therapy.