I really wish I knew about this 15 years ago when I broke my back the first time. I'm sure it could have helped my recovery, which instead took months partially paralyzed on the couch and years for even partial recovery, and I'm now permanently 'broken'.
I live in N Cali, where it's not usually warm, so I don't go swimming often. It wasn't until last year in Hawaii that I realized how good snorkeling was for my back, because it let me exercise and stretch without the pressure, weight, and jarring I get when exercising on land.
I have a hot tub which helps, but it's not the same by far when you can't stand up and still be under water.
Knowing what I know now, I should have found an indoor pool and spent a lot of time there. I would likely be in much better shape today had I done that right away.
*quality stuff

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by newtboy.

I am sorry to hear about your accident; I am glad you finally found a way on your own to "self-rehab" by snorkeling.
Swim on, my friend.

How did you break your back? (More than once??)

Ahhh, a request for a telling of 'the saga of the broken newt'.

The first time was ridiculous, remodeling my bathroom and lifting a heavy cast iron tub by hand, not realizing it was liquid nailed to the sub floor. I crushed a vertebrae, popped a disk, and severed the nerve that operates below the knee. I was completely paralyzed below the knee for over 6 months, then for about 1 1/2 years I had partial feeling and movement, it was like my leg was completely asleep that entire time....and still is to a small extent (weakness, pins and needles).
The second time, I ran my car into a highway divider head on at 55mph and went airborne. Good thing it was an Acura Legend, a tank of a car, or it certainly would have been far worse. I was already so irreparably broken, I didn't even go get another MRI for that one, which was probably a bad idea. I still have extra back pain from that (6+ years after the fact), but it didn't do new nerve damage (that I know of) so I just accepted it as one more injury to add to the (excessively long) list.
I am accident prone, and don't take proper care of myself. I'm now paying for over 4 decades of that behavior.

Thanks, that's nice of you to say.
Unfortunately, snorkeling up here means subjecting myself to hypothermia, so it probably won't happen much. There will be some while I set up my pond, but I doubt that will be as therapeutic as warm Hawaii waters. Maybe I should move!

*timeshift

Adding video to channels (Timeshift) - requested by ant.

it's probably worth noting that 'broken back' isn't a medical diagnosis. There are a whole range of injuries that could potentially fall into that category with damage to the spinal coord being the most serious. A fractured vertebra/pedicle or a popped disc can have complications including sciatica and variable paralysis of a nerve root which may fully resolve with time and or surgery.

In this case, you can see in the preview she is sitting on the side of the pool with her spine taking the whole weight of her torso/head - so i'm not sure what the 'reduces forces on her bones' means.
While this type of exercise offers fantastic rehabilitation I wouldn't want people to think that you could dump Christopher reeves in there and cure his ailments!

*happy


This made me feel happy for her. I hope the best for her.
@newtboy thanks for sharing you back story. I too wish for you to have a better healed back. Be in peace.

Invocations (happy) cannot be called by bobknight33 because bobknight33 is not privileged - sorry.

Adding video to channels (Happy) - requested by Payback.

Looking at the water temps for N Cali, it's about 10 degress C (or ~50f) in winter?

That's cold, but not unmanageable. Get yourself a good semi-dry wetsuit (including booties, gloves and hood), pair it with some merino thermals and you'd be sweet as.

Good thoughts, but all that gear makes it much harder to bend and flex without resistance and compression which is the whole point.
Also, the cold causes uncontrollable muscle contraction, making it all more difficult in another way.
I just need to move to Hawaii where shorts are fine in winter. ;-)

Look at the atrophy of her leg muscles (flat on her back for a month in a cast) and the nasty purple scar along her back at the :44 second mark---about lumbar spine. Looks like she got a set of steel rods on either side of her crushed vertebrae.

You're right; she didn't sever her spinal cord; but she's still lost muscle and has to bring the strength and power back to her back, and develop the ability to start standing again---and the water, I think, floats her to take most of the weight off as she starts to move...

But I could be wrong.

Yeah exactly. It looks like she is taking her first steps after immobility and muscle wastage of the legs.
I just think if your going to get consent to show a video of an intimate therapy session then at least give some more clinical information.