Hey all,
I've been swimming my whole life including a couple years on the HS team. After that it's been hit and miss, but I've been consistently in the pool the last 4 years and have been happy with my progress.
Just the other day I was doing some lake swimming and the last 1/2 mile I felt a pull up my right side. It wasn't debilitating at the time so I kept swimming, plus I was in the middle of a lake so I kind of had to keep going. Everything felt fine until I got in the car and drove around a bit, then the shoulder got very sore and I couldn't raise it over my head.
The next day I went to the chiropractor. He said it wasn't a tear, but the rotator cuff is strained and causing me problems. He did wonderful work and I'm very happy with him. He said it could take as long as 6-8 weeks to heal. I'm sort of resigned to that fact even though I'd signed up for a series of swims this summer that I won't be able to complete if this injury is that bad.
This is a long story for a short question. How do I avoid injuring the rotator cuff again? Is it rotation in the water? I've been conscience of pulling from my lats in the last few weeks so as not to strain the shoulder too much.
I've got a 5 mile swim in about a month if I can do it. How do I do it without injuring the shoulder even more?
Thanks
Find out which of the four rotator cuff muscles is injured, and if in fact is is or is NOT torn. As Denise said above...only an MRI can show that. About three years ago I tore my rotator cuff (supraspinatus muscle)...the one that tears from throwing (among other activities). At the time I figured it was just a strain and tried to self-treat it. I took off swimming for several weeks, but when it wasn't getting any better I went to the doctor. He ordered the MRI which showed a significant tear, and referred me to an ortho surgeon. The ortho said it needed to be surgically repaired, but that I could continue swimming until the surgery, and that "swimming wouldn't cause it any more damage." The problem was...it was springtime and I'd already entered several triathlons for the summer. The ortho initially wanted to operate within a couple weeks. I told him about all the races and he said I could continue swimming and we could wait until the fall to do the surgery BUT NO LATER. So that's what I did (he also agreed to give me cortisone shots in the meantime). Swimming in that condition wasn't perfect...but I could swim. However, you probably should make sure it's OK with your doctor.
If you decide on surgery to repair it...the recovery is an whole other sh!tstorm of misery. If you want to discuss that...bring it up once you've made the surgery decision.
Good luck
Dan
Find out which of the four rotator cuff muscles is injured, and if in fact is is or is NOT torn. As Denise said above...only an MRI can show that. About three years ago I tore my rotator cuff (supraspinatus muscle)...the one that tears from throwing (among other activities). At the time I figured it was just a strain and tried to self-treat it. I took off swimming for several weeks, but when it wasn't getting any better I went to the doctor. He ordered the MRI which showed a significant tear, and referred me to an ortho surgeon. The ortho said it needed to be surgically repaired, but that I could continue swimming until the surgery, and that "swimming wouldn't cause it any more damage." The problem was...it was springtime and I'd already entered several triathlons for the summer. The ortho initially wanted to operate within a couple weeks. I told him about all the races and he said I could continue swimming and we could wait until the fall to do the surgery BUT NO LATER. So that's what I did (he also agreed to give me cortisone shots in the meantime). Swimming in that condition wasn't perfect...but I could swim. However, you probably should make sure it's OK with your doctor.
If you decide on surgery to repair it...the recovery is an whole other sh!tstorm of misery. If you want to discuss that...bring it up once you've made the surgery decision.
Good luck
Dan
