Recovering from bursitis using an Endless Pool
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It's too bad, in Betty Edmonds' experience,
that medical diagnostics are not as reliable
in analyzing her painful symptoms as the Endless Pool
is in relieving them.
Having undergone back surgery nearly
three years ago and being confined to a body brace for
the better part of a year, Betty developed mysterious
pains. These subsequently led to conflicting diagnoses
and treatments from "every specialist in Fort Wayne".
The latest in this series was the most distressing: fibromyalgia, a little-understood affliction of the
joints, ligaments, and tendons. Worse still was the
extensive, lifelong drug regimen prescribed, which,
in one physician's determination, included a morphine
patch.
Exasperated, Betty sought another opinion at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. She was diagnosed with
bursitis -- inflammation of the bursa sac, which serves
as a cushioning agent in joints. In Betty's case, the
inflammation was in her hip. Current wisdom holds that
physiotherapy, rather than medication, should result
in total or substantial recovery from this condition.
Attending physicians were encouraged to learn
that Betty had an Endless Pool that she could
use year-round, since "pool swimming" tops
their list of recommended exercises.
In fact, the Endless Pool has been a source
of comfort throughout her ordeal. Her daily
stretching-and-swimming routine would customarily last
45 minutes to an hour in the 89-degree water. When the
pain was particularly acute, "I stayed in as long
as I could, because that was the only time I didn't
hurt." Apart from the long drive, she says, one
of the toughest things about the visit to Mayo Clinic
in Minnesota was not being able to use her pool for
two weeks.
Several months ago, Betty's husband, Jack, underwent
an emergency angioplasty to clear a virtually total
blockage of a coronary artery. He now uses the Endless
Pool to build cardiovascular strength and relieve stress.
"Really, I don't know how we would have
managed to get through the last couple of years without
the Endless Pool," she says. "I'm
looking forward to going a long time without pain, and
without all that medicine."
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