SWIMMING

Swimming

Swimming is an amazing sport that combines the entire body’s strength, flexibility and endurance. Unfortunately swimmers are prone to overuse injuries that affect the shoulder, neck, lower back and knees. It has been estimated that the average high school swimmer can perform 1 to 2 million strokes annually with each arm. It is not surprising that overuse injuries are predominantly the type of injuries that occur in the shoulders. Incorrect technique can play a big part in predisposing a swimmer to potential injury Shoulder injuries make up 90 % of complaints by swimmers. Knee injuries are the second most common injury in swimmers. Less common injuries include the back, foot, ankle, elbow, wrist and hand. Overload injuries are common as well when there is a sudden spike in training or competitions.

Shoulder Injuries

Swimmer’s shoulder (most common)
Rotator cuff injuries
Multidirectional shoulder instability
Imbalance – due to one set of muscles becoming overdeveloped and the relative muscles become weak

Knee Injuries

Medial Collateral Ligament Stress Syndrome (almost exclusively to breaststrokers)
Patellofemoral Syndrome (almost exclusively to breaststrokers)
Medial Synovial Plica Syndrome (almost exclusively to breaststrokers)

Foot and Ankle

Tendonitis of the extensor tendons

Elbow

• Stress Syndromes
• Lateral epicondyalgia

Wrist and Hand

• De Quervain’s tenosynovitis
• Thoracic outlet Syndrome

Back

• Spondylolysis
• Spondylolisthesis

• Schuermann Kyphosis
• Degenerative Disc Disease

Developing an injury by several factors

Swimmers can be predisposed to developing an injury by several factors. This can include:

Poor Rehabilitation following a previous injury
Joint stiffness or swelling
Muscle tightness
Bony anomalies
Poor scapulohumeral rhythm
Poor motor control and motor planning
Inadequate joint range od motion
Inadequate recovery periods from training and racing
Poor warm up/cool down
Poor core stability
Poor proprioception or balance

Common Swimming Injuries

OTHER INJURIES BY SPORT

Olympic Sport Therapy

Sport injuries come unexpectedly. The more you push your body to its limits, the more you will have sport injury! So what are you going to do about it? Medical Massage and Sport Massage continues to improve every year. Health professionals, such as your physician, chiropractor and physical therapist will recommend massage for your condition knowing the benefits of it. If you wish to assess, accurately find out about your condition and optimally manage your sport injury in the shortest possible time, then you should book a free session with a specialist in sport massage at Olympic Sport Therapy.

Match Your Sport Needs With A Customized Massage

Knowing what type of sport you perform and to identify injuries specific to your chosen sport are found on this website. We have categorized the most common sport injuries specific to your sport. Simply select your sport from the tabs below and learn more about your sport injury.