Shoulders! For many the most important joint in our body. Without our shoulder we would be unable to do things such as throw a ball, reach overhead, and even swing through the trees. A joint that is this important should always stay strong and mobile. There are several issues that may befall our shoulders, one of which is swimmer’s shoulder, or more technically called shoulder impingement. What is swimmer’s shoulder? What brings forth swimmer’s shoulder? Who is at risk? How do we treat and help decrease the likelihood of swimmer’s shoulder?

Swimmer’s shoulder in Fremont or more technically, shoulder impingement, is an overuse injury that commonly plagues athletes who participate in sports such as baseball, water polo, volleyball, and as the name implies, swimmers. Essentially, any sport that places extreme demand on repetitive use of the shoulder. It must be noted that this issue may be experienced by people who do not participate in any of the above-mentioned sports.

Steps To Correcting Swimmer's Shoulder in Fremont CA

Understanding that swimmer’s shoulder can affect people is an important first step. We must next identify the common symptoms that present with swimmer’s shoulder. Some of the common symptoms include; minor but constant pain in the arm, pain that goes from the front of your shoulder to your arm that gets worse at night, shoulder or arm weakness, and a general feeling of being unable to raise your shoulder overhead.

Now when we say overuse injury, what does this mean? An overuse injury results when we have a repetitive stress (such as throwing) causing a breakdown of the surrounding tissue and structures resulting from our body not adapting to the demands that are placed on it. What this means, is that if we place our body in a position that it is weak in and keep applying the same constant movements, eventually it will break down. But what breaks down and results in swimmer’s shoulder? The main structure that we see implicated is the rotator cuff and a structure known as the acromion. Shoulder impingement occurs when we lift our arm and the rotator cuff and acromion narrow onto each other and increasing pressure between the structures. As this happens, a build up of inflammation in the joint and surrounding muscles will occur.

We now know what parts of our body shoulder impingement impacts and how it occurs. So how can we resolve it? If we are experiencing swimmer’s shoulder, how do we help minimize the symptoms and the likelihood of it re-occurring. Following the decision that we do in fact have swimmer’s shoulder, our first step is to decrease the inflammation. Once this has been accomplished, we are able to rehab and focus on minimizing future risk. To do this we are going to focus on mobility and strength. By first focusing on our individual joint mobility, we will be able to train strength and control in various positions. This becomes extremely important as if we do not move our shoulder through its’ comfortable end range every day, we slowly lose our full range of motion. The second component to this process is strengthening the surrounding muscle and tissue to support the shoulder. We want to focus on building strength in the rotator cuff muscles, paying special attention to the external rotators of the shoulder.

Swimmer’s shoulder, though annoying, is something that can easily be recognized, treated, and avoided in the future. By focusing on our shoulder joint mobility and the strength of the surround muscles and tissues, we are able to achieve a shoulder that is strong, resilient, and adaptable. Call our team at Core Performance Chiropractic in Fremont today!