Hi! So I am a serious competitive swimmer. I've been swimming since I was little (over a decade by this point) and I had never had any shoulder pain until this March. It was the end of my season and we were tapering down for NCAA's and all of the sudden my shoulder starting hurting more and more everday. Swimming backstroke caused the most pain (kind of a problem since I am a backstroker) and it got to the point where I couldn't take a stroke of backstroke without being in agony. I also couldn't sleep on that side. I took a lot of aleve and swam through it b/c I needed to be able to race at NCAA's. Once I stopped training backstroke the pain was less acute and more tolerable. I thought that with some time off it would go away. However, even with 2 full weeks of no swimming something still didn't feel right. As time has gone on (very minimal off season training) I've developed extreme tightness in my pec and all across the top of my back and neck.
I went to a sports doc at home and they did an MR arthrogram and diagnosed me with a Labral tear (he said it was a slight tear) and some impingement. My doc said that he thinks some of the pain I am experiencing could be related to the way my back and shoulder muscles have developed after so many years in the pool; but if that was the case it seems strange that my shoulder would all of the sudden start hurting like this. Anyway, he said that he doesn't think I need surgery at this point and I should be able to resolve the problem with physical therapy. I'm just worried that once I get back to serious training (4-5 hours and 12,000+yards a day in the pool plus dryland) it will just start hurting again and it will affect my season.
Does anyone know anything about/experienced this kind of problem? Especially serious athletes or swimmers? My hope was that I could resolve this over the summer so I would be ready to go once my college seasons starts up in the end of August. I was a 6 time All American this past season as a freshman so oviously I feel a certain amount of pressure to follow up on that with a great sophomore season. I have my first PT apptment on Monday but any advice or personal anecdotes would be great appreciated!
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Former Member
My story - 20 years ago I dislocated my shoulder and tore the glenoid labrum so there was a long loose strip that kept getting pinched when I moved my arm. My arm would sublux out of the shoulder socket and it hurt to take a single stroke of freestyle. I had surgery to reconstruct the joint. My arm/shoulder was immobilized for a few weeks, then I had about 4 months of PT 3x/week for 4 hours at a sports medicine rehab center. When I started PT, I didn't even have strength to lift a 12-oz can of diet coke or to open a heavy door. PT was successful and I built strength back up to where I was able to benchpress my bodyweight. The surgeon thought that I might have some limits in external rotation, which would affect backstroke. Happily that was not the case but other patients at PT did, including a promising collegiate baseball pitcher who couldn't pitch any more. I did have to have a loose screw removed a year later which was causing pain while swimming. Loose screws were a common complication and I don't think the same procedure is used today.
Today I do not notice the shoulder when I swim. I avoid some weightlifting as it does irritate it -- military press, flies. It is uncomfortable to carry bags with the strap on that shoulder. It also tires rapidly when I carry a drink. I support it when I drive as it seems like it subluxes. I am supposed to continue doing some rehab exercises (particularly for the rotator cuff) to keep the joint stable.
Good luck with your shoulder.
My story - 20 years ago I dislocated my shoulder and tore the glenoid labrum so there was a long loose strip that kept getting pinched when I moved my arm. My arm would sublux out of the shoulder socket and it hurt to take a single stroke of freestyle. I had surgery to reconstruct the joint. My arm/shoulder was immobilized for a few weeks, then I had about 4 months of PT 3x/week for 4 hours at a sports medicine rehab center. When I started PT, I didn't even have strength to lift a 12-oz can of diet coke or to open a heavy door. PT was successful and I built strength back up to where I was able to benchpress my bodyweight. The surgeon thought that I might have some limits in external rotation, which would affect backstroke. Happily that was not the case but other patients at PT did, including a promising collegiate baseball pitcher who couldn't pitch any more. I did have to have a loose screw removed a year later which was causing pain while swimming. Loose screws were a common complication and I don't think the same procedure is used today.
Today I do not notice the shoulder when I swim. I avoid some weightlifting as it does irritate it -- military press, flies. It is uncomfortable to carry bags with the strap on that shoulder. It also tires rapidly when I carry a drink. I support it when I drive as it seems like it subluxes. I am supposed to continue doing some rehab exercises (particularly for the rotator cuff) to keep the joint stable.
Good luck with your shoulder.
