Hey all, I've been lurking around here for a while, but now I finally registered because I have an important question that's worrying me. Any help would be much appreciated. And you all seem pretty nice.
What's wrong with my shoulder? Or: How can I tell the difference between normal muscle soreness and incipient injury?
I started swimming with a Masters swim team in January. I do 6000 to 8000 yards a week. In March, I hit the water funny doing a start and the next time I swam I had some pain in the "front of the armpit" muscle. I stopped swimming, did some heat and ibuprofin, went back a few days later, and that same muscle never hurt again.
However, my shoulder still gets sore, mostly the muscle that connects my neck to the top of my shoulder and along the inside of my shoulder blade. This tends to happen after I finish working out, but sometimes I'll get sore towards the end of a workout. How can I tell if I'm hurting myself through bad technique or not giving myself enough time to heal, or if it's just normal soreness due to getting those muscles in shape?
Some other facts:
* It's my nondominant side.
* It's the arm I use for open turns, which means it gets used more.
* If I skip heat for a day or two, it begins to feel tight.
* It is definitely less flexible than my other shoulder--when I stretch I feel it more.
* It's sorer today than it has ever been. Last night, by the end of the workout, both my shoulder and elbow hurt it a bit. Coincidentally, we swam pretty hard and fast, which meant lots of very snappy open turns. I hope that means it's just normal soreness & that I should work on flip turns and thereby solve the exacerbation situation.
If I had healthcare, I would ask a doctor. But I don't. And I want to keep swimming! Any insights?
Hi there,
wow!, it's hard to know how to reply to this one. I know everyone's threshold and perspective of pain is a bit different.
I would first tell your coach about the situation and have him/ her evaluate your stroke and see if there's anything that could be causing the pain. If he/she doesn't see anything in particular, you may just want to try taking it easy on that arm a bit for awhile..
How Badly does it hurt? is it a dull throbbing type pain, or a sharp pain?.. In general, I think sharp pains are not a good sign, but I"m not a therapist or doctor, so I couldn't say.
Stretch regularly!.... This is very important for swimming, make sure you get a good set of stretches, and do them regularly. While you're stretching don't push too hard, just gentle stretches done often will do wonders.
If all of this doesn't work, I hate to say it cause I know you don't have insurance, but I'd look into seeing a professional about it..
Again, I am in no way qualified to give advice about this sort of thing, just thought i'd offer some ideas.. sorry to hear you're having shoulder trouble, good luck with whatever you try!!
Jeanette.
Hi there,
wow!, it's hard to know how to reply to this one. I know everyone's threshold and perspective of pain is a bit different.
I would first tell your coach about the situation and have him/ her evaluate your stroke and see if there's anything that could be causing the pain. If he/she doesn't see anything in particular, you may just want to try taking it easy on that arm a bit for awhile..
How Badly does it hurt? is it a dull throbbing type pain, or a sharp pain?.. In general, I think sharp pains are not a good sign, but I"m not a therapist or doctor, so I couldn't say.
Stretch regularly!.... This is very important for swimming, make sure you get a good set of stretches, and do them regularly. While you're stretching don't push too hard, just gentle stretches done often will do wonders.
If all of this doesn't work, I hate to say it cause I know you don't have insurance, but I'd look into seeing a professional about it..
Again, I am in no way qualified to give advice about this sort of thing, just thought i'd offer some ideas.. sorry to hear you're having shoulder trouble, good luck with whatever you try!!
Jeanette.
