OK. I never thought this would happen to me....blah blah. I went canoeing for a week and now I have serious shoulder pain. I don;t even want to think about the words "Rotator cuff". What masters swimmer would?
But I need your help folks. I had to take six ibuprophen just to get to sleep last night. (Of course I swam 1400 easy yards on the shoulder just to see if it would hold up--STUPID!).
I plan on resting the shoulder for one week, and then commence a return to swimming. What the heck else am I supposed to do?
Does this injury sound familiar to anyone? Will it heal with rest?
Parents
Former Member
In addition to being a swimmer I am also a marathon (flat water) canoe racer. Your statement that you had been canoeing for a week could be the crux of your problem. I'm guessing that you did very little canoeing up until the time of your "canoe week" and now you're having terrible pain because you didn't build up to it properly. You have my sympathy - your pain sounds awful!
These two sports can put a tremendous amount of strain on your shoulders, neck and arms. In the warm weather months I am very careful with the workout/race balance between the two sports. In the spring I often wait until after SCY nationals before getting in the boat. Right before my two open water races this summer I didn't canoe at all. For the day after a hard canoe practice, I modify my swimming workout to include much more breaststroke and kicking. If I'm training both sports, it often means that both the canoe workouts and the swimming workouts are shorter in duration than they would be if I was only doing one sport. If I am training for a freestyle event I am extra careful - I get much more pain from freestyle.
I see a massage therapist approximately every 6-8 weeks year round. Her services do not come cheap, but they enable me to continue particpating in two sports I really enjoy. I'm not a medical professional and can not diagnose your situation but I do hope you aren't seriously injured and that you'll feel better soon.
In addition to being a swimmer I am also a marathon (flat water) canoe racer. Your statement that you had been canoeing for a week could be the crux of your problem. I'm guessing that you did very little canoeing up until the time of your "canoe week" and now you're having terrible pain because you didn't build up to it properly. You have my sympathy - your pain sounds awful!
These two sports can put a tremendous amount of strain on your shoulders, neck and arms. In the warm weather months I am very careful with the workout/race balance between the two sports. In the spring I often wait until after SCY nationals before getting in the boat. Right before my two open water races this summer I didn't canoe at all. For the day after a hard canoe practice, I modify my swimming workout to include much more breaststroke and kicking. If I'm training both sports, it often means that both the canoe workouts and the swimming workouts are shorter in duration than they would be if I was only doing one sport. If I am training for a freestyle event I am extra careful - I get much more pain from freestyle.
I see a massage therapist approximately every 6-8 weeks year round. Her services do not come cheap, but they enable me to continue particpating in two sports I really enjoy. I'm not a medical professional and can not diagnose your situation but I do hope you aren't seriously injured and that you'll feel better soon.
