Hi folks
In Feb 2009 I had rotator cuff surgery. They sewed up a 2.5cm buttonhole like tear in my supraspinatus tendon.
For about 7 years prior to the surgery, I had been swimming 1k 3x a week.
After the surgery, I had given up on the idea of swimming for fitness, but I'm starting to think that was premature.
I've read on this forum of people with much worse rotator cuff injuries than me getting back in the water.
The physical therapist says I'm good to start swimming with a kickboard. I'm going to get some fins because kicking alone seems to get me nowhere.
Can any forum members who've recovered from a rotator cuff repair give me some advice about how to approach my return AFTER I stop using a kickboard?
Thanks in advance
Mark
Parents
Former Member
Last week I swam over 22,000 meters for the week. It’s been a little over three years since I had rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder. I injured it skiing not swimming. The immediate effect of the surgery after a couple of months of PT was that I could lift my arm over my head without pain. However the return to swimming took much longer then that. After several abortive attempts, I was finally able to start swimming on a regular basis (multiple times a week) about 18 months ago. The issue in coming back was not shoulder strength but the repetitive motion. My first couple attempts at a return ended up with fairly intense inflammation in the shoulder and another lay off, even though I started very slow and added yardage in small increments. It has taken a while and I still know which shoulder the work was done on, but it’s pretty good now.
Last week I swam over 22,000 meters for the week. It’s been a little over three years since I had rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder. I injured it skiing not swimming. The immediate effect of the surgery after a couple of months of PT was that I could lift my arm over my head without pain. However the return to swimming took much longer then that. After several abortive attempts, I was finally able to start swimming on a regular basis (multiple times a week) about 18 months ago. The issue in coming back was not shoulder strength but the repetitive motion. My first couple attempts at a return ended up with fairly intense inflammation in the shoulder and another lay off, even though I started very slow and added yardage in small increments. It has taken a while and I still know which shoulder the work was done on, but it’s pretty good now.
