Swimmer’s Shoulder Treatment in Orange County Ca
Swimmer’s Shoulder
Huntington Beach/ Fountain Valley CA
Swimmer’s Shoulder is a generic diagnosis for pain associated with swimming. Swimming requires control and strength of the shoulder within extreme ranges of motion unparalleled in most other sports. So what is the cause and how do you fix Swimmer’s Shoulder?
One fact you have to understand about the shoulder is its extreme ranges of motion are only possible because of the lack of a complex bony joint at the shoulder. As a ball and socket joint, the head of the humerus almost floats on top of the glenoid fossa, only being head together by the rotator cuff muscles and joint capsule. Most joints have firmer ligament stability but the shoulder doesn’t. Most of the stabilization rests on the shoulders of the rotator cuff (no pun intended).
If you have ever performed a biceps curl at the gym you would notice it is much harder at the bottom of the motion (when the muscle is lengthen fully) than in the middle of the motion. The same occurs when the shoulder is totally lengthened, which is needed while swimming. As the arm is being pulled through the water, the rotator cuff is required to produce forceful, concentric (shortening) contractions to move the body through the water at a high rate of speed. It is a lot of work, especially when the muscle is completely stretched.
What do we do with this information?
Now that we know the rotator cuff is prone to injury with extreme ranges of motion and increased muscular demand, we can theorize small tears will occur due to normal wear and tear, just as a rope tends to look old after years of use.
These tears fill with scar tissue, will weaken the muscle and create a tendency for overuse injuries such as Swimmer’s Shoulder.
How to correct Swimmer’s Shoulder?
The steps are simple but precise:
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Break up the scar tissue and restore motion
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Re-strengthen the muscles
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Correct swimming form, as recommended by a swim coach
Although it seems simple, many times people neglect the first part and stretch instead, which many times will not effectively remove scar tissue at this stage of the injury.
Personally I consider terms such as Swimmers Shoulder and Runner’s Knee as very non-descriptive. Not all swimmers will have the same type of injury and just because they have shoulder pain when they swim mean nothing at all.
At some point in any sporting career you are more than likely going to have aches, pains and injuries, you just have to listen your body and see a professional when the time is right because not all injuries are equal.
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P3 Sports Care, previously Orange County Pain Management, has been serving Southern California for over 5 years. Although many of our patients live right in the city of Huntington Beach, many of them will come from a great distance to receive our Active Release Techniques®, Chiropractic Care, and Rehabilitation. Our customer service is second to none; our patients always come first. Even patients who are afraid of going to a chiropractor love our style of care.
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