What do I do to get past these sore shoulders? Am I working out too hard? Is there anything that works to calm the soreness? If I keep swimming will they get worse? Or do I need to swim the soreness out?
I recently had some shoulder problems. I felt some shoulder pain, and would occasionally hear some clicks and pops as I moved the arm around. Sometimes I would feel slight pain down my arm on the biceps muscle at the elbow joint, as well as up to my neck. I took ibuprofen, used ice, and reduced my intensity a little in workouts. I also worked at shoulder stabilization exercises. All of this helped, but it seemed to be taking way too long (6 to 8 weeks and only small improvement). I went to my massage therapist, told her all the symptoms, and she identified two places that were contributing to locking the shoulder blade and shoulder joint. The clicks were these muscles pulling the shoulder joint in bad directions because they were so tight. One area she worked on was the coracoid process. In less than a week my workout intensity went up to the max, and with a little self-massage in the areas she pointed out, my shoulder is at 100%. No pain. No clicks. No referred pain.
There are many kinds of potential shoulder problems, as it is a complex joint. My point is that you should seek out professionals who really understand the bio-mechanics of these structures. My doctor would say I had a shoulder impingement and would tell me to lay off swimming for an extended period. Find a good physical therapist, massage therapist, or perhaps osteopath. A really good one will be able to tell you whether your muscles are locked up and contributing to the problem (and be able to release them) or whether there is a possible rotator cuff tear, etc. Mine is worth her weight in gold.
I recently had some shoulder problems. I felt some shoulder pain, and would occasionally hear some clicks and pops as I moved the arm around. Sometimes I would feel slight pain down my arm on the biceps muscle at the elbow joint, as well as up to my neck. I took ibuprofen, used ice, and reduced my intensity a little in workouts. I also worked at shoulder stabilization exercises. All of this helped, but it seemed to be taking way too long (6 to 8 weeks and only small improvement). I went to my massage therapist, told her all the symptoms, and she identified two places that were contributing to locking the shoulder blade and shoulder joint. The clicks were these muscles pulling the shoulder joint in bad directions because they were so tight. One area she worked on was the coracoid process. In less than a week my workout intensity went up to the max, and with a little self-massage in the areas she pointed out, my shoulder is at 100%. No pain. No clicks. No referred pain.
There are many kinds of potential shoulder problems, as it is a complex joint. My point is that you should seek out professionals who really understand the bio-mechanics of these structures. My doctor would say I had a shoulder impingement and would tell me to lay off swimming for an extended period. Find a good physical therapist, massage therapist, or perhaps osteopath. A really good one will be able to tell you whether your muscles are locked up and contributing to the problem (and be able to release them) or whether there is a possible rotator cuff tear, etc. Mine is worth her weight in gold.
