Shoulder pain is the most reported area of injury in swimmers from recreational to professional athletes. The ‘swimmer’s shoulder’ describes a syndrome with pain over the front of the shoulder both during and after swimming.
Swimming is a demanding sport that combines endurance, strength, and control. Highly repetitive upper extremity overhead movements provide most of the propulsive forces for all four main strokes: freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke and backstroke which places a large demand on the shoulder and body.
The most common causes or contributing factors to shoulder pain in swimmers include a variety of musculoskeletal dysfunctions such as internal factors including:
Shoulder pain in swimmers is multifactorial and may also be caused by external factors. The most common of which include training load errors such as:
Approach to management:
Managing shoulder pain in swimmers involves diagnosing its cause and contributing factors this involves reviewing with a physiotherapist. The following are common evidence-based management strategies that you will be guided through by your physio:
Sorcha is a qualified Senior Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and Qualified strength and conditioning coach. She has extensive experience working with athletes returning post-shoulder injury from her work at the shoulder lab in the UPMC Sports Surgery Clinic in Ireland. Sorcha has worked with swimmers, rugby players and basketballers with shoulder-related injuries returning them to a high level of sports participation. If you have swimming-related shoulder pain that you would like guidance with, contact the team at PROmotion to start your rehabilitation journey with Sorcha.
References
PROmotion Health © All Rights Reserved 2024
Website by Studio22
