I have pain in my right shoulder/arm and a X-ray said I have arthritis in the joint space in my shoulder. It aches in my tricep which is weird if it is arthritis in my shoulder!!?? I haven't swam in 3 weeks. Going to lay off until the irritation subsides some more. Doctor prescribed Naproxen 500mg 2x daily. It is an anti-inflammatory drug. It seems to be helping a little. I am wondering about competitive masters swimming? I have been doing this for 3 years and I am afraid my competitive days may have to be behind me. : ( Does anyone else have arthritis in their shoulder? or anything similar they are dealing with? I am sure it varies with each individual. However, how much yardage can one do before it hurts and you have to quit? I was trying to swim through the pain and it just got way to aggravated. I have to learn when enough is enough. It is hard because my brain wants my body to be able to keep going...push through it. I have to stop that cause now i am out of the pool trying to heal what i have done to it!! Any help/suggestions on what i can expect would be welcome. What have you been through with this? I love swimming and will not stop swimming. I just afraid trying to do distance and speed are over! Please tell me what you think??? Thanks : ) (btw I am 51 )
I'm not a medical professional of any sort, But I have had a severely torn rotator cuff, and corrective surgery for it (Injury was cause by throwing and not by swimming but did greatly affect my swimming). I'm 54 now and it happened when I was 51/52. I think that just because the x-ray shows that you have arthritis in the shoulder it doesn't mean that is what is causing the pain. I have arthritic conditions in one of my knees but can still run relatively painless. Like smontanaro alludes to...maybe you do have a rotator cuff issue that is causing the pain. But, any sort of tear in any of the rotator cuff muscles won't show up on an x-ray. You'll need to have an MRI for that. MRIs are expensive and doctors don't like to just order them on a whim. You'll need to keep complaining to your doctor, or get second and third opinions. For the sake of all that is holy I hope it isn't anything that requires rotator cuff surgery and can be managed with non-surgical methods. Recovery and PT from that surgery is not fun. Good luck.
Dan
I'm not a medical professional of any sort, But I have had a severely torn rotator cuff, and corrective surgery for it (Injury was cause by throwing and not by swimming but did greatly affect my swimming). I'm 54 now and it happened when I was 51/52. I think that just because the x-ray shows that you have arthritis in the shoulder it doesn't mean that is what is causing the pain. I have arthritic conditions in one of my knees but can still run relatively painless. Like smontanaro alludes to...maybe you do have a rotator cuff issue that is causing the pain. But, any sort of tear in any of the rotator cuff muscles won't show up on an x-ray. You'll need to have an MRI for that. MRIs are expensive and doctors don't like to just order them on a whim. You'll need to keep complaining to your doctor, or get second and third opinions. For the sake of all that is holy I hope it isn't anything that requires rotator cuff surgery and can be managed with non-surgical methods. Recovery and PT from that surgery is not fun. Good luck.
Dan
