swimmer's shoulder

Hello guys, I was wondering how do you recover from swimmer's shoulder injury.

I was swimming today, and I felt a very big sharp pain on my shoulder, The life guard helped me
and he told me that it was a shoulder injury (swimmer's shoulder), he put some ice on it and I
felet better.

I was wondering how long should I wait to swim again?, and what should I do to heal quickly. besides
Ice and rest what should I do?

any tips guys?

thanks

-wjg

>>I was wondering how long should I wait to swim again?, and what should I do
to heal quickly. besides Ice and rest what should I do?<<

You need a diagnosis. It's hard to do over the internet.

However, presuming that you have garden variety "swimmer's shoulder" :

Ice probably won't help. "Swimmer's shoulder" is almost always teninosis (non-inflammatory), and not
tendinitis (which ice does help).

Rotator cuff tendon injuries take a long time to heal. The blood supply to the rotator cuff tendons
is very poor. The best thing you can do is not to swim for at least a month.

During that time, do weight bearing exercises to strengthen your external rotator cuff muscles.

e.g. Hold a 3 - 10 lb dumbell in each hand. Bend over at the waist to a 90 degree angle, arms
straight down. Lift the dumbells up, above your head level, in front of your shoulders (at
about a 45 degree angle from your head). Do 12-15 reps. Take a brief rest. Repeat, at a 45
degree angle toward your rear end. Do 2-4 sets per session. Do this a couple of times per day.
Gradually increase weight, as you get stronger.

When you do the above exercises, have your thumb slightly pointed upward, pinky slightly pointed
downward. This keeps you in external rotation, which is good.

Most importantly, when you get back into the water, you want to modify your stroke:

http://www.swimmingcoach.org/article...sm20010218.asp

e.g.a. newsgroup participant has tried to explain it in simpler terms. I'm thinking he'll provide us
with his URL, which is definitely worth reading.

Larry Weisenthal

Certitude is poison; curiosity is life

You could check out these sites: http://www.education.ed.ac.uk/swim/papers4/ad.html and:
http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/..._99/kammer.htm or any number of swimming related injury
sites, or do a Google Groups search for this newsgroup under "swimmer's shoulder", "impingement",
etc. There's some good information out there. Just my $0.02 worth.

Steve Curtis

On 11 Mar 2003 02:08:43 GMT, runnswim@aol.comnet (Larry Weisenthal) wrote:

>r.s.s. newsgroup participant has tried to explain it in simpler terms. I'm thinking he'll provide
> us with his URL, which is definitely worth reading.

Here: http://www.donalfagan.com/html/shoulder.html

BTW, the teninosis vs tendinitis is news to me. I always see references to tendinitis.

Donal Fagan AIA Donal@DonalO'Fagan.com (Anglicise the name to reply by e-mail)

On 11 Mar 2003 02:08:43 GMT, runnswim@aol.comnet (Larry Weisenthal) wrote:

>You need a diagnosis. It's hard to do over the internet.

I think swimmer's shoulder is hard to diagnose, period. How do you distinguish between the pain
of "tendinosis" and the tingly, glowing feeling of a good, hard workout? How reliable is that
Neer test?

Donal Fagan AIA Donal@DonalO'Fagan.com (Anglicise the name to reply by e-mail)

On Tue, 11 Mar 2003 22:07:19 +0000, Donal Fagan wrote:

> On 11 Mar 2003 02:08:43 GMT, runnswim@aol.comnet (Larry Weisenthal) wrote:
>
>>You need a diagnosis. It's hard to do over the internet.
>
> I think swimmer's shoulder is hard to diagnose, period. How do you distinguish between the pain
> of "tendinosis" and the tingly, glowing feeling of a good, hard workout? How reliable is that
> Neer test?
>
>
>
> Donal Fagan AIA Donal@DonalO'Fagan.com (Anglicise the name to reply by e-mail)

hmmm not too mention muscular problems, plus pain from bad posture or pain that's hard to nail down,
like sore rhomboid. Sometimes the only answer seems to be to take it easy for a few days, hit up the
recovery measures (sleep, water, massage, etc) and see someone if the pain is persistant. Sometimes
it seems the shoulder is just too complicated a joint for it's own good.....

GL Mike

Regarding Larry W's post:

"Swimmer's shoulder" is almost always teninosis (non-inflammatory), and not tendinitis (which ice
does help).

I couldn't find any references to "teninosis" at WebMD or in a medical reference dictionary.
What is the distinction between "teninosis" and "tendinitis"?

Steve Curtis

I think "teninosis" is a typo for "tendinosis".

From webmd:

"Tendinitis," which means tendon inflammation, has traditionally been considered the cause of tendon
pain and loss of strength and movement. However, researchers have recently discovered that the
majority of people diagnosed with tendon injury have no signs of tendon inflammation. Most cases of
tendon pain and disability are thus more properly termed "tendinosis."

http://my.webmd.com/content/healthwi...tselectedguid={5FE84E90-
BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348}

Payson

"Steve Curtis" <iamh2oman@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:8265-3E6E2FBB-897@storefull-235...wson.webtv.net...
> Regarding Larry W's post:
>
> "Swimmer's shoulder" is almost always teninosis (non-inflammatory), and not tendinitis (which ice
> does help).
>
> I couldn't find any references to "teninosis" at WebMD or in a medical reference dictionary.
> What is the distinction between "teninosis" and "tendinitis"?
>
> Steve Curtis

On Tue, 11 Mar 2003 10:49:31 -0800 (PST), iamh2oman@webtv.net (Steve Curtis) wrote:

> Regarding Larry W's post:
>
>"Swimmer's shoulder" is almost always teninosis (non-inflammatory), and not tendinitis (which ice
>does help).
>
>I couldn't find any references to "teninosis" at WebMD or in a medical reference dictionary. What
>is the distinction between "teninosis" and "tendinitis"?

I guessed that he had left out a 'd':

http://www.tendinosis.org/

tendinitis The suffix "itis" means inflammation. The term tendinitis should be reserved for tendon
injuries that involve larger-scale acute injuries accompanied by inflammation. (Tendinitis is often
misspelled as tendonitis, but the preferred spelling used in most of the medical literature is
tendinitis.)

tendinosis The suffix "osis" implies a pathology of chronic degeneration without inflammation.
Doctors prefer the term tendinosis for the kind of chronic tendon injuries that most of us have. The
main problem for someone with tendinosis is failed healing, not inflammation; tendinosis is an
accumulation over time of microscopic injuries that don't heal properly. Although inflammation can
be involved in the initial stages of the injury, it is the inability of the tendon to heal that
perpetuates the pain and disability. Most of the pain associated with tendinosis probably comes not
from inflammation but from other irritating biochemical substances associated with the injury.

Donal Fagan AIA Donal@DonalO'Fagan.com (Anglicise the name to reply by e-mail)

"Donal Fagan" <Donal@DonalO'Fagan.com> wrote in message
news:ages6v0aampleik00kge5pug7v84e5dg56@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 11 Mar 2003 10:49:31 -0800 (PST), iamh2oman@webtv.net (Steve Curtis) wrote:
>
> > Regarding Larry W's post:
> >
> >"Swimmer's shoulder" is almost always teninosis (non-inflammatory), and not tendinitis (which ice
> >does help).
> >
> >I couldn't find any references to "teninosis" at WebMD or in a medical reference dictionary. What
> >is the distinction between "teninosis" and "tendinitis"?
>
> I guessed that he had left out a 'd':
>
> http://www.tendinosis.org/
>
> tendinitis The suffix "itis" means inflammation. The term tendinitis should be reserved for tendon
> injuries that involve larger-scale acute injuries accompanied by inflammation. (Tendinitis is
> often misspelled as tendonitis, but the preferred spelling used in most of the medical literature
> is tendinitis.)
>
> tendinosis The suffix "osis" implies a pathology of chronic degeneration without inflammation.
> Doctors prefer the term tendinosis for the kind of chronic tendon injuries that most of us have.
> The main problem for someone with tendinosis is failed healing, not inflammation; tendinosis is an
> accumulation over time of microscopic injuries that don't heal properly. Although inflammation can
> be involved in the initial stages of the injury, it is the inability of the tendon to heal that
> perpetuates the pain and disability. Most of the pain associated with tendinosis probably comes
> not from inflammation but from other irritating biochemical substances associated with the injury.
>

The website makes depressing reading for those hoping to recover fully from tendinosis. I hope mine
is a tendinitis injury! Paul

While on the subject of Swimmer's shoulder, I do not get any particular pain while in or out of the
water, but, when I do the various exercises recommended to strengthen the various shoulder muscles
and prevent injury, I do feel a lot of 'clicking' in both shoulders. Even with normal stretching
exercises I get this. Is this anything to worry about ? Pauline

"Pauline Inwood" <pauline@in-wood.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in news:b51g6h$a61$1@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk:

> While on the subject of Swimmer's shoulder, I do not get any particular pain while in or out of
> the water, but, when I do the various exercises recommended to strengthen the various shoulder
> muscles and prevent injury, I do feel a lot of 'clicking' in both shoulders. Even with normal
> stretching exercises I get this. Is this anything to worry about ? Pauline
>
>

My orthopedist says that clicking in joints is normal in some people, and that as long as there's NO
pain associated with it, it's OK.

I sound like a castanet orchestra when I stretch, and haven't had any joint problems because of it
(I've had joint problems, but I could always trace the injury to something other than the clicking).

If the clicking is associated with pain, or if you're just worried about it, see a doctor.