Molesey Osteopaths

How to swim after spinal surgery
http://www.suecroft.co.uk/swim-spinal-sur gery/

This is Thomas on 9th October this year he swam as part of a 4 man Channel relay team. In February this year he had spinal surgery for what one of the worst Lumbar disc herniations I had seen in 15 years of practice. The protrusion was occupying nearly 30% of his spinal canal leading to severe motor loss (paralysis) in his leg. He was wheel chair bound. Thomas had signed up for the relay the previous November, he already had a long history of severe back problems but was stab...le at the time Masters and OW swimming and a healthy diet ensured this. But at Christmas all hell had broke loose when his disc herniated. He came to me and said what do I do, I want to be on this relay. Simple you do as I tell you. So, I put together a comprehensive rehab plan, working with Natalie Batson; Personal Trainer, Lorraine Bickford-Sawyer Masters swim coach. Between the 3 of us, we nagged, bullied him and mainly stopped this over enthusiastic Italian doing more than he was ready for. I had discussions with his Gp whose job was to sign off his medical for the swim. It was a serious team effort, I had 20 weeks from surgery to get him swim ready. But he did it, his commitment and determination to be on the team meant he put in the time both in the pool and the land training. But more importantly he rested. Which for any sportsman is the hardest part of being injured, telling a sportsman to rest is like asking them to chop their legs off! So, you must find the balance between training and rehab. Splitting up swims, so instead of doing 6 hours do 2 x 2 hours with a 2-hour break. Do an hour of land training working on stability and conditioning and then an hour in the pool instead of 2 continuous hours of swimming. Change the strokes don’t just plough on for hours doing one stroke. Variety is the key for both mental and physical rehabilitation. I’m proud of him, his commitment and discipline at times felt like we were walking a knife edge of will we/won’t we be strong enough in time. He was, he did it, 3 x 1hour swims in very rough sea conditions. The team completed the swim in 13 hours 6 minutes.
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Please meet Larissa, a busy working mum, who this year cycled from Landsend to John O’Groats. Over 1000 miles averaging 100 miles a day for 10 days. Raising money for Pancreatic Cancer charity. She had little cycling experience but she managed to fit in endless hours of cycling in between school runs, work and life in general. She came to me 6 weeks before her ride complaining of low back pain, we worked out what the issues were and with a few treatments and Larissa doing stretching and exercises at home she was fit and ready for her ride. I am proud of her determination and discipline to complete so much training. Her commitment to her dream of completing this ride meant she did whatever I told her to do. I am totally honoured that she trusted me to prepare her for this huge challenge.

Meet Jean-Michel, this year he achieved his dream of swimming the Channel solo. He had completed many Iron Men events some in quite gruelling environments. This summer he came up to me on Dover beach and wanted to talk to me about his shoulder. He had developed a problem a couple of weeks back and now it was seriously weak if not buckling in the water. His swims were getting shorter and shorter. Not what you want in the run up to the biggest swim of your life. So, I asked hi...m when his tide was. 9 days’ time! Gulp, even for me that’s little time to get things diagnosed and fixed. I must give the man his due, he drove from Watford where he worked and from Oxford where he lived to me for treatment, at times that was a 2hour car journey. Again, we walked that knife edge of will we be ready, won’t we. But he held his nerve, did the exercises I gave him, did the altered training plan I gave him. He completed his solo crossing in good time, experienced no pain or weakness throughout his swim and recovered swiftly afterwards. And here he is a very happy Channel swimmer . “I could not have done it without your help” Jean Michel
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Happy New Year and welcome to my new website, come and have a browse at www.moleseyosteopaths.co.uk. Enjoy