For the past couple of months, my shoulder has been feeling "loose" or instable. I have some moderate pain and mostly the very odd feeling that it just is about to fall out of its socket. It usually feels okay while swimming but very bad afterwards. I've taken the past week off from swimming in the hopes that things would feel better, but no dice. I do have a call in to my doctor, but I've done some Googling around and it seems like it might be multi-directional instability of the shoulder. Does anyone have any experience with this? I am physically unable to participate in most other cardio (running, step aerobics, anything with any level of impact) so the idea of not being able to swim is very depressing.
Former Member
A great article on the issue of Shoulder instability.
Shoulder Injury Prevention
Presented by USA Swimming and the Network Task Force on Injury Prevention. (April 2002)
Introduction by Scott Rodeo, MD // Chair of the USA Swimming Sports Medicine/Science Committee and Team Physician for the NFL’s NY Giants
www.usaswimming.org/ViewMiscArticle.aspx
i saw a 3rd orthopod yesterday.
on top of whatever is wrong with my shoulder socket, all of my additional symptoms say i also have TOS.
morphopedics.wikidot.com/thoracic-outlet-syndrome
bonus for me!!!
and all of the range of motion strength tests showed that my doc is weak. ooops, um, i mean that i am not weak :D
i am to get an injection of moose snot in my shoulder joint with sonagram guidance next thrusday and then wait till may 13th.
i could have been chewing advil like candy and killing my liver and gone to Indy. oh well. it's only 1 arm, i've got another.
steve
i saw a 3rd orthopod yesterday.
on top of whatever is wrong with my shoulder socket, all of my additional symptoms say i also have TOS.
morphopedics.wikidot.com/thoracic-outlet-syndrome
bonus for me!!!
and all of the range of motion strength tests showed that my doc is weak. ooops, um, i mean that i am not weak :D
i am to get an injection of moose snot in my shoulder joint with sonagram guidance next thrusday and then wait till may 13th.
i could have been chewing advil like candy and killing my liver and gone to Indy. oh well. it's only 1 arm, i've got another.
steve
Ohhh noooo! :bighug: You have my sympathy- and, empathy; been there, done that. It was not swimming related, but I had surgery for my TOS in 2003, long before I returned to swimming in 2010 after 31 years off. Swimdoc also had surgery for his TOS last year and is back in the pool. He is also in Texas (Houston), so you may want to send him a PM.
Good luck!
I went to practice for the first time in a couple weeks and even streamlining or kicking with a kickboard was very uncomfortable. I'm still having the uncomfortable feeling that my shoulder is too loose. I'm going to mention it to my physical therapist (who I will meet in three days, thank God) and possibly check back with my doctor. It feels wrong all the time. Ugh.
kicking with a board or kicking with your arms overhead (ie backstroke kick) or kicking with arms at the side?
i would HIGHLY suggest no board!!! if backstroke then far apart with hands (i've done this for 3+ years now).
or maybe just arms at side.
today i had a sonagram guided injection into my right shoulder socket. very nicely done and not really any pain and i *** H A T E *** needles.
if this works that means i probably need shoulder surgery again. if it doesnt it probably means i need neck or TOS surgery.
can this crazy merry go round stop please?
steve - with my 100 swiss francs
I had my first physical therapy appointment today. She said that my shoulder is very, very lax and there is a ton of inflammation in my shoulder and collar bone area. I'm not supposed to swim (kicking is okay) until I see her again next week.
Getting rid of your kickboard will alleviate lots of stress placed on a weak shoulder. I stopped using one in college and never looked back. Kicking on my back has significantly improved my SDKs during my races (bonus)! If u must have a board, finis has a mini triangle shaped one that will not bug your shoulder as much. Ice as often as you can and stay on top of those anti-inflams. Good luck!
Agree about getting rid of the kick board. Just wanted to say that for many years now I have not used a board with kicking, doing the dolphin, breaststroke, and flutter kicking on my back, and more recently I am also kicking on my front side with the snorkel. The fins are useful too for kicking while resting the arms, single arm swimming and/or combining kicking-sculling-drills. I wish everyone the best possible outcome with the shoulder issues towards pain free enjoyable swimming.
I had my first physical therapy appointment today. She said that my shoulder is very, very lax and there is a ton of inflammation in my shoulder and collar bone area. She gave me some really simple stretches to do and a 24-hour iontophoresis patch delivering anti-inflammatories. I'm not supposed to swim (kicking is okay) until I see her again next week. Has anyone else ever had this patch? It's really interesting to me and I'd love to hear other peoples' experiences. Also, has anyone else ever had any collar bone issues? Mine is swollen up so much that I look lopsided right now.
I wish everyone the best possible outcome with the shoulder issues towards pain free enjoyable swimming.
Me too!
Develop shoulder related knowledge, strive for form, and simply pay attention to how they feel.
I'm lucky to have 1.75 of my shoulders remaining, I will work to keep that many in the future
