Swimming is gentle, but not always without risk

Swimming is often recommended as a joint-friendly sport. In many cases, this is true because swimming does not involve the impact loading found in running or jumping.

However, competitive or regular swimmers may experience specific overuse issues. These most commonly affect the shoulder joint.

What is swimmer’s shoulder?

So-called swimmer’s shoulder refers to shoulder pain resulting from repetitive strain during swimming. During a swimming stroke, the shoulder operates through a wide range of motion with a high number of repetitions.

Endurance swimmers can perform thousands of repetitive movements during a single training session. If muscle imbalances, insufficient recovery, or technical errors are added to this, pain can develop.

Typical symptoms

Pain may occur during swimming, after training, when lifting the arm, or at night. Sometimes it is accompanied by a feeling of weakness, restricted movement, or pain in certain shoulder positions.

The issues may be related to the overloading of tendons, rotator cuff muscles, or structures surrounding the shoulder joint.

Prevention and compensation

Correct swimming technique, reasonable training dosage, sufficient recovery, and compensatory exercises are important. Strengthening the shoulder girdle muscles and stabilizing the scapula is also significant.

If the pain repeatedly returns, it is not advisable to simply “swim through it.” It is better to identify the cause and adjust the load before the problem worsens.

Does your shoulder hurt during swimming or after training? Book a sports-orthopedic examination at HR Clinic.