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Beat Disease and Keep Fighting Fit
Learn to Recognise the Common Signs of Swimmer's Shoulder
Regina Barnett
Swimming is often touted as a relatively risk-free form of exercise since you don't place much pressure on your joints. While that's certainly true, there are still some injuries you might suffer from swimming, and swimmer's shoulder is one of the most common.
Most people who swim for exercise emphasise the front crawl, which involves a lot of shoulder movement. The shoulder needs to be controlled by various muscles and ligaments. When those muscles and ligaments are overworked, swimmer's shoulder can result; it's actually an umbrella term covering several overuse injuries centred around the shoulder. You should seek professional help as soon as you notice signs of swimmer's shoulder. To do that, you need to know the signs in the first place, so here are just a few of the most common.
Pain Along the Back of the Shoulder
In some cases, people with swimmer's shoulder will experience pain along the front of the shoulder, but pain is usually experienced along the back. It should feel like it goes quite deep, and this isn't the type of pain you can swim through. Increased overhead reaching will simply result in more acute pain – the longer you keep swimming, the worse it's going to get.
Decreased Strength
Swimmer's shoulder is an overuse injury, which basically means you're placing too much stress on the muscles and ligaments surrounding your shoulder – this suggests you already lack the proper strength or endurance for the strain you're placing on your body. If you start to develop swimmer's shoulder, a loss of strength will grow more pronounced. You may suddenly feel one arm getting more tired while the other seems strong enough to keep going.
Decreased Range of Motion
When the muscles and ligaments surrounding your shoulder aren't working properly, your range of motion will tend to suffer. At first, you might simply bring your arm a touch too far in or out. As the condition develops, you'll find it increasingly hard to even maintain proper swimming form. Unfortunately, you'll probably end up putting your shoulder under even more stress when your form isn't up to scratch.
Poor Posture
Finally, some people show signs of poor posture when they're out of the water. The shoulder might not sit quite as it should; for example, the affected shoulder might slump forward when seated. As with other symptoms, this one is likely to grow more pronounced as the condition develops.
For more information, contact your local physio centre today for an appointment.
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