Swimmer’s Shoulder

What is it and how can you help yourself.

Swimmer’s shoulder is a term that covers a broad range of injuries that occur in swimmers. There is a great balance between shoulder mobility and stability that occurs during sports that require overhead movements and a lot of repetitive action which can add a lot of stress. Shoulder pain is the most common musculoskeletal complaint in swimming. Swimmer’s shoulder can range from localised pain near the shoulder joint, to a radiating or shooting pain through the shoulder or down the arm.

The shoulder is a ball and socket joint, with a rim of cartilage (called the labrum) that goes around the socket to make the socket deeper and more stable. Surrounding the joint is your joint capsule with thicker parts of the capsule forming ligaments. A group of 4 muscles called the rotator cuff surrounds the joint and provides further stability and control to the movement of the humeral head.

Swimming requires several different shoulder motions depending on the stroke. Most movements involve circular motions of the shoulder with varying degrees of internal and external rotation and scapular movements towards and away from the spine. Most strokes rely on two primary phases referred to as the pull-through and recovery phases. The pull-through phase provides the propulsion and is further divided into different phases consisting of the hand entry, the catch, the pull, and the recovery.

Over-training, fatigue, hypermobility, poor stroke technique, weakness, or tightness can lead to your muscles and ligaments being overworked and can result in imbalance and/or injury. Potential common impairments that need to addressing include postural dysfunctions, tight anterior chest muscles, stiffness of the thoracic spine. Initial inflammation can be treated with rest and ice and further manual techniques, such as joint mobilizations, massage and stretches will help greatly on the road to recovery as well as reducing your distance or training frequency and making alteration to reduce the repetitive stress at the shoulder.

As mentioned the most common problem areas or areas of tightness/stiffness that need correcting in swimmers shoulder injuries are the pectoral muscles, the posterior rotator cuff muscles and the thoracic spine.

Top stretches:

- Pec major muscle

- Shoulder External Rotators / Lats Stretch

- Thoracic Spine Mobility