Neck and Shoulder Injuries

RE: Neck and Shoulder Injuries

Former Member — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:23:02 GMT

on the internet you can find several neck traction machines that are activated by pumps. they have helped me to continue to my swimming training despite a bad neck. it sounds simple but i also find that ice helps as much as anitimflamatories.

RE: Neck and Shoulder Injuries

Former Member — Sat, 15 Jun 2002 15:16:02 GMT

Thanks for all of your advice - I saw a physical therapist this week and am pleased with what she had to say. Swimming is actually helping. She believes that I injured myself doing a very bad yoga move while in bed. The injury never properly healed because of 2 main things - very poor posture and head alignment and weak lower and middle trapezoid? muscles. According to her, I only use my upper trap to life my arm when you should use all three. I now have fancy little exercises to do to build up those muscles. She is a swimmer and thinks that swimming is helping build those muscles. Breastroke doesn't help because I generally hold my head as if I am breathing while doing the breastroke (yes I look like a turtle all day long). As you already probably know, this is not proper head position. Thanks again. Liz

RE: Neck and Shoulder Injuries

Former Member — Thu, 06 Jun 2002 16:44:35 GMT

I too have experienced neck and shoulder injuries due to poor swimming technique. However, I have now changed my stroke to a much lower head position, eyes focused on bottom of pool rather than ahead, and I've been working on body rotation (for freestyle). Further information on this technique can be found on the total immersion website: www.totalimmersion.net I've found that this body position puts less strain on both neck and shoulders. Hope this helps! Joan :)

RE: Neck and Shoulder Injuries

Kevin in MD — Wed, 05 Jun 2002 03:03:43 GMT

I've found that to get good results from medical folks on shoulder issues with regard to swimming; you have to come preloaded with lots of good technical information about your situation. What I mean is, not walking into the office saying my shoulder hurts. I mean walking in saying well, I have poor internal rotation in my shoulders and have a recurrent problem with pain on the right side of my neck. It hurts on the right side when I turn left or right, as far as I can tell it's between C6 and C7. You may have already guessed the correct answer isn't to take some muscle relaxers and ice it for a few days. You'll be back in the office very soon in that case. The correct answer would be something like, let's find out exactly what the problem is, (imaging as suggested elsewhere) and now let's figure out what you're doing to make this come up. Since you're a swimmer with shoulder and neck problems we will look at swimming first. This part may not be with a doctor at all but can very well be with a physical therapist. Also please be aware that your lane mates saying you have good technique doesn't exactly pass over swimming as the problem. Not your lane mates in particular but in general swimmers are not tuned into what ways we expose ourselves to injury by swimming. Only those that have taken a particular interest for themselves or possible medical practitioners who also swim are likely to know enough to give good answers on the question. Your lane mates may be these people, but be aware they may not. Laslty, my biomechanical questions about swimming usually start here www.education.ed.ac.uk/.../ There's lots of good information there. Find the good medical people in your area, there is certainly someone in Chicago that can help you.

RE: Neck and Shoulder Injuries

Former Member — Tue, 04 Jun 2002 14:40:31 GMT

I’ve read quite a bit about neck injuries since I’ve developed one. I can’t offer specific diagnoses or advice without doing a medical history and physical exam, but I do have some thoughts. Re. Whiplash injuries – they seem to be mostly due to muscular tears or trauma to the ligaments and tendons surrounding the neck. However, I’d like to know the following: 1. Have you had any imaging studies of your cervical spine and shoulders (MRI, CT scan) since you’ve had this injury? 2. Were you having any pain prior to the whiplash injuries? 3. Did the whiplash injuries involve you hitting any part of a motor vehicle (dash, steering wheel, etc.)? If the answer to 1 was “no,” I’d get an imaging study. Pain could be related to a herniated disc. Pain could also be related to a shoulder impingement (I’ve had that in the past). However, that’s less likely to be bilateral. If the answer to 2 was yes, that still wouldn’t rule out a disc problem. However, the whiplash injuries make me worry a bit about that, as does the need for vicodin and muscle relaxants. Finally, if the answer to 3 was “yes”, and you haven’t gotten an imaging study, I would press your physician for one. I would also ask to be evaluated by a neurologist, physical medicine & rehab physician, or sports medicine specialist.

RE: Neck and Shoulder Injuries

Former Member — Tue, 04 Jun 2002 14:27:58 GMT

I too have shoulder problems, at times I can't lift my arms over my head. I found that the worst is when they bother me and I do kick with a flutter board. I try to do as much kick as I can without a flutter board. I also find that backstroke will really bother them. Hope thats some help Glen