Hi there,
This is my first post on this forum and I'm really hoping someone out there has been through this. I am an open water swimmer, generally averaging about 25 thousand yards a week and gearing up for this summer when I finally get to swim outside!
In February, my family and I went on vacation in the Caribbean and I swam like crazy every day. Since that time, i have been having pain on my right side, in the back, basically under my right shoulder blade. I didn't cut down on my volume, which I know I should have done, and the pain has gotten worse over the past few months.
I saw my orthopedist/sports medicine doctor today, at long last, after pain since February. I've been having therapeutic, aka painful, massage from the massage therapist who works with the local college swim teams. I'm also doing chiropractic Active Release Therapy and have had only brief, very temporary respites from pain, with time off from swimming, etc. I'm doing all the other normal things--ice, ibuprofen, exercises, etc.
Today I was diagnosed with subscapular bursitis. Both the chiropractor and orthopedist think that my pec muscles are pulling my scapula over and out of place, but that it also may be rubbing against my ribs. I also seem to have developed swimmer's posture--rounded shoulders, etc.
Of course this was just a few weeks before Chesapeake Bay, which I am set to do for the first time after getting in through the lottery! I was extremely dismayed as this is finally the start of the season, and what I've been working for all these months. I typically race up through October, ending with the St. Croix 5-mile swim.
For anyone who has experienced this, how long was your recovery and what did you do for recovery? How long was it before you got back in the water, and after that, did you experience pain when you swam? I tried a kick set today, with fins, and even that caused pain. I am running a ton--because otherwise, my mood is bad enough that someone will die! But I am dying to get back in the pool. At this point, I am having pain when I go to sleep, pain when I sneeze, cough, etc--anything that strains that area at all.
The doctor has recommended twice a week physical therapy for 8 weeks, a re-evaluation, and if that doesn't work, a possible cortisone shot. Of course, he said that carries a 50% risk of nicking my lung, and I'm not interested in that. If those two didn't work, he would recommend surgery as a last resort.
Any thoughts? Suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
Sydne
Thanks to you both.
I saw my chiropractor again yesterday and she said she has mixed feelings about a "bursitis" diagnosis.
I've never heard of bursitis in the scapular area ... but such a diagnosis does exist, although it's apparently relatively rare. Orthopods, even the good ones, can get things wrong sometimes. My frayed labrum went undetected for 18 months until my ART chiropractor said that he thought the trap pain was referred from the labrum. He was right. An arthrogram confirmed I had a frayed labrum, especially on the backside. Scapular pain is apparently a classic symptom of this problem ...
Maybe it's tendonosis? An arthrogram or MRI should show this. Maybe you need a second opinion. I hope you don't have to miss the bay bridge swim. Oh, I see you run. I run for cross training too. I can't swim 24/7.
When my shoulder felt particularly bad last Nov/Dec, I did not stop swimming. Although I did do some restorative/recovery type swimming. I went to ART 2x a week for 4 weeks, then went 1x a week for almost a couple months. I started prolotherapy at my ART doc's rec. It also worked previously on Mr. Fort, who had tendonosis in the hamstring from running. I also did RC/scapular exercises like crazy. That always seems to reduce the pain for me. If I get lazy or busy and stop, the pain comes back.
Thanks to you both.
I saw my chiropractor again yesterday and she said she has mixed feelings about a "bursitis" diagnosis.
I've never heard of bursitis in the scapular area ... but such a diagnosis does exist, although it's apparently relatively rare. Orthopods, even the good ones, can get things wrong sometimes. My frayed labrum went undetected for 18 months until my ART chiropractor said that he thought the trap pain was referred from the labrum. He was right. An arthrogram confirmed I had a frayed labrum, especially on the backside. Scapular pain is apparently a classic symptom of this problem ...
Maybe it's tendonosis? An arthrogram or MRI should show this. Maybe you need a second opinion. I hope you don't have to miss the bay bridge swim. Oh, I see you run. I run for cross training too. I can't swim 24/7.
When my shoulder felt particularly bad last Nov/Dec, I did not stop swimming. Although I did do some restorative/recovery type swimming. I went to ART 2x a week for 4 weeks, then went 1x a week for almost a couple months. I started prolotherapy at my ART doc's rec. It also worked previously on Mr. Fort, who had tendonosis in the hamstring from running. I also did RC/scapular exercises like crazy. That always seems to reduce the pain for me. If I get lazy or busy and stop, the pain comes back.
