I'm a 35 year old former collegiate swimmer who has been back at it for the past two years. About 5 months ago I started experiencing pain in my left shoulder. It has been diagnosed (exams plus MRI) as an arthritic AC joint. A cortisone shot lasted about 2 weeks before the pain returned.
At this point I believe my only real option is undergoing surgery to eliminate interference between the two bones in the joint.
I believe I've read about Dara Torres having this done after Beijing. Has anyone here gone through this procedure? I would like to hear about recovery time and what to expect long term.
Thanks,
Micah
I have not been able to swim much since April 2010 because of shoulder pain. 3 doctors and 2 therapists later, I came to the same conclusion as JimRude. The 3 Drs told me something different. 2nd therapist was a college swimmer/coach said I was internally rotated. He mentioned that swimmers are stronger in the chest and weaker in the back (at least that was my case). Stronger doing internal rotations than external rotations. I started doing stretches to “open the capsule” as well as others exercises. I started swimming slowly with mostly kicking. The Therapist did say that kicking with the board causes some stress and I should try kicking free without a board and hands on my side to reduce stress and strengthen the core. I went to 2 practices of an hour each a week apart of ~2500yds and the pain came back. I sharing what I learned but I am in the same freaking boat as before. I am working on it but I am not successful at it at all.
I have not been able to swim much since April 2010 because of shoulder pain. 3 doctors and 2 therapists later, I came to the same conclusion as JimRude. The 3 Drs told me something different. 2nd therapist was a college swimmer/coach said I was internally rotated. He mentioned that swimmers are stronger in the chest and weaker in the back (at least that was my case). Stronger doing internal rotations than external rotations. I started doing stretches to “open the capsule” as well as others exercises. I started swimming slowly with mostly kicking. The Therapist did say that kicking with the board causes some stress and I should try kicking free without a board and hands on my side to reduce stress and strengthen the core. I went to 2 practices of an hour each a week apart of ~2500yds and the pain came back. I sharing what I learned but I am in the same freaking boat as before. I am working on it but I am not successful at it at all.
