Another Shoulder Impingement...

Former Member
Former Member
Hi everyone, I'm new to the formums but have been reading a lot of the posts related to shoulder injuries over the past week or so (first found the forums searching for information on shoulder impingement). I am a lifelong competitive swimmer, and swam through college. This is my fifth year out of school, and my fifth year swimming Masters. I have been one of the lucky few to get through my swimming career with no major injuries, but unfortunately, I started having pain primarily in my right shoulder this past October. It also occurred very minimally in my left shoulder. When it continued to reoccur and gradually get worse, I tried two weeks of rest in Dec. The pain worsened during the rest period so I finally saw a doctor at the end of January. At that point my right shoulder was so painful that I was barely using it. Predictably, I was diagnosed with bilateral shoulder impingement and prescribed PT, and told to ice when when it was painful, but try to stay active as long as I wasn't in serious pain. On my own, I cut out butterfly, kickboards, diving off the blocks, and pulling (all painful things). I was told to stay away from NSAID's because they delay healing. Up until a week ago, my shoulders had been improving gradually and I had been doing PT and targeted rest pretty strictly. The right one was still very mildly painful, but just barely. Then, a couple of things happened. Over the past two weeks, I've had to do some heavy lifting for work, and I also stupidly decided to do a fun dryland-integrated practice where we were starting off of the blocks and repeatedly climbing out of the pool. I also pulled with small paddles. (yes, I know... dumb). My left shoulder hurt during this practice but I figured I'd just ice it and take the consequences, because I was enjoying myself. Now, my left (not the original one) shoulder has been in pretty bad pain for the past 4 days or so. I can feel what I think is it subluxating with certain motions (particularly if I squeeze my lats together and pull my shoulder back), and I get a popping sensation inside the joint. It hurts with almost any motion, even washing my hands. The worst is how it aches inside the joint; that is keeping me up at night. Icing makes it a little better for half an hour or so. I also started taking ibuprofen, which helps a little, but not much. I'm worried about a SLAP tear to my labrum because of these symptoms. This is a lot of background information.... but what I want to know is how long I should wait before I go back to the doctor? I am trying to see if rest, PT, icing and NSAID's will help. Unfortunately getting time off from school/work is very difficult for a doctor's appointment so I don't want to go unless it's really serious. I'm pretty strongly anti-surgery if there is even a slight hope of medical management improving things, just because I know surgery is not benign and requires a long recovery time.
Parents
  • Have you had a coach really look at your stroke? As a "volunteer" assistant in HS coaching, giving classes and clinics for Masters/triathletes, a former college coach,and swimming myself, I believe it is very important to look at entry of hand(s) on freestyle, as well as closely monitoring the other strokes. Hand, elbow, arm position as well as lack of body roll can aggravate shoulder problems, especially if the if there are variances in anatomical "groove" of the rotator cuff. Moderate strength training to develop muscular strength of all the muscles needed in the pull, including deltoids and lats and traps, as well as the smaller muscles involved, can help take the strain off the shoulders, when those muscles are strong. Changing entry positions and/or pull patterns, and strength training have had enormous effects, a LARGE DROP, in shoulder problems/injuries with most of my swimmers, including myself; particularly with females who might not have developed the muscular strength in that area, naturally (less testorone), that males have. Hope that helps! JP
Reply
  • Have you had a coach really look at your stroke? As a "volunteer" assistant in HS coaching, giving classes and clinics for Masters/triathletes, a former college coach,and swimming myself, I believe it is very important to look at entry of hand(s) on freestyle, as well as closely monitoring the other strokes. Hand, elbow, arm position as well as lack of body roll can aggravate shoulder problems, especially if the if there are variances in anatomical "groove" of the rotator cuff. Moderate strength training to develop muscular strength of all the muscles needed in the pull, including deltoids and lats and traps, as well as the smaller muscles involved, can help take the strain off the shoulders, when those muscles are strong. Changing entry positions and/or pull patterns, and strength training have had enormous effects, a LARGE DROP, in shoulder problems/injuries with most of my swimmers, including myself; particularly with females who might not have developed the muscular strength in that area, naturally (less testorone), that males have. Hope that helps! JP
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