MAIN POINT OF THIS POST: How much should I listen to pain when swimming after labrum repair? (Long post...)
I am now at 21 weeks post-labrum repair. That's a little more than 5 months, using my little brain.
I am wondering what to expect. I have finished PT (4 months of it), am strong with all the exercises, yet it really hurts to swim.
Initially my surgeon just said to swim through all the pain, that that would be the only way to get "functional" movement back, specific to swimming. However, she also let me have 2 more months of PT, thankfully.
But new things have emerged after this surgery. My elbow starts to hurt so that I cannot swim at all after about 500 yards. The shoulder joint itself still is very sore. And for some reason I now have impingement somewhere when I rotate my arm (I did not have this pre-surgery). Also, I have new pain in my biceps/deltoid area that was not there before.
I do listen to my body and stop when it hurts way tooooo much, but otherwise I push myself to swim despite the pain, making sure that I don't experience more pain later. I both swim with fins and without. And I continue to do a lot of kicking. Breaststroke is least painful (because I am not very good at it); fly I haven't tried; backstroke I can do maybe 200 yards, and freestyle my limit is 500 yards. Speed of swimming doesn't make a difference in level of pain.
I still am regaining range of motion.
I know it is a long journey, possibly a year before I can really swim the way I want. I am not a patient person but am working on patience.
Anyone with history of labrum surgery have any advice about what pain to listen to, what to ignore?
Re stroke technique and wanting more posts on technique, I definitely noticed that when I was breathing to my right, I was pulling with my left arm (the one with the torn labrum) at the same time, essentially torquing my left arm every pull. So I am working very hard on not doing that.
I also enjoy the Website "GoSwimWeekly," which has a lot of things related to technique and efficiency.
And I continue to investigate the idea of "scapular swimming" (Kipp Dye and Milt Nelms (?)), looking at videos on YouTube of how Natalie Coughlin swims freestyle, where she uses her core and body strength to throw her arms forward, thus lessening stress on her shoulders. She talks about swimming as if walking. Thus no high elbows, no early vertical forearm, no long, extended arm pre-catch.
All a long learning curve.
The good news: no recent fires in my (new) toaster oven.
Sharp pain anywhere in your joints or musculature is bad. Stop swimming.
Generally, I agree, but nothing about this recovery has been without intense pain, especially regaining range of motion. So I have had to listen to doctors tell me to do the opposite of what I would usually do, which is not move my dang arm at all...
My PT was not, alas, a swimmer, and her understanding of why I hurt where I do was limited. She said I had to ignore the elbow/biceps pain or I wouldn't build strength. So I have.
I am going to go to a really good swim massage person for input from someone who knows swimmers and swimmers' muscles, because I don't want to injure stuff further.
I was just curious about others' recovery from labrum surgery--what it was like when you began swimming again, how soon you were able to swim without much or any pain, how much you swam, etc. I am feeling a little lost re what I should be aiming for.
Any input would be most appreciated.
Sharp pain anywhere in your joints or musculature is bad. Stop swimming.
Generally, I agree, but nothing about this recovery has been without intense pain, especially regaining range of motion. So I have had to listen to doctors tell me to do the opposite of what I would usually do, which is not move my dang arm at all...
My PT was not, alas, a swimmer, and her understanding of why I hurt where I do was limited. She said I had to ignore the elbow/biceps pain or I wouldn't build strength. So I have.
I am going to go to a really good swim massage person for input from someone who knows swimmers and swimmers' muscles, because I don't want to injure stuff further.
I was just curious about others' recovery from labrum surgery--what it was like when you began swimming again, how soon you were able to swim without much or any pain, how much you swam, etc. I am feeling a little lost re what I should be aiming for.
Any input would be most appreciated.
