Recently, high temperature warnings have been issued in many places. The heat is unbearable, and many people choose swimming, which can not only cool down and exercise, but also lose weight, burn fat and shape their bodies. However, improper swimming posture can also cause harm to the body. Wang Jing, director of the Department of Bone and Joint and Sports Medicine of Hunan Provincial People’s Hospital, reminded netizens to be careful about "swimming shoulders".
What is a "swimming shoulder"?
Swimming is a sport that uses the shoulder joint the most frequently. "Swimming shoulder" is mainly caused by the frequent movements of the shoulder joint over the head when swimming, which leads to the collision between the subacromial coracoacromial ligament and the greater tubercle or rotator cuff tendon, resulting in subacromial bursitis and rotator cuff tendinitis, and the shoulder pain is induced.
In addition, when swimming, the upper arm needs to fully rotate and abduct, and the upper arm repeatedly exerts its strength. At the same time, due to the resistance of water, it exerts great pressure on the shoulder, and excessive exercise will lead to tendon injury of the shoulder joint.
What are the symptoms of "swimming shoulder"?
The clinical symptoms of "swimming shoulder" mainly include shoulder pain, including rest pain, exercise pain, nocturnal pain and movement disorder.
Specifically, acute injury is characterized by severe pain in the shoulder and decreased abduction ability of the shoulder; In chronic injury, the shoulder is dull and painful, while in abduction, the abduction is limited. In the early stage, it is often manifested as shoulder pain at rest or at night, decreased activity, weakened strength, etc., and symptoms such as persistent pain and frozen shoulders will appear in the later stage.
Which strokes are prone to "swimming shoulder"?
Compared with other strokes, people in freestyle, butterfly and backstroke are more likely to suffer from "swimming shoulder". Because the shoulder joint frequently moves above the head, the ligament under the acromion, the greater tubercle of humerus and the rotator cuff tendon repeatedly hit, resulting in local injury of the shoulder joint.
For example, in freestyle, the internal rotators such as pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi are often used in the "pull" stage, while the external rotators such as deltoid and infraspinatus are often used in the "recovery" stage. Generally speaking, the external rotator is weak and easily injured. However, the basic posture of breaststroke determines that its shoulder movement range is small, so it will be relatively better.
It should be noted that no matter what kind of swimming stroke, if the swimming action is not standardized, uncoordinated or too long, lack of sufficient warm-up and excessive exercise intensity, the shoulders will be in an excessive state of exercise.
How to prevent "swimming shoulder"?
First, the preparation activities should be sufficient. Warm up well before swimming, such as bending your head forward, leaning back and rotating your back from side to side for more than 10~15 times to move your neck; Shoulder shrug, arm circle drawing and chest expansion exercise 10~15 times each to move shoulders and chest; Stretch your legs, bend over, touch your toes with your hands, bend your knees, bend your hips and squat, and stand up alternately for 10 to 15 times to move your knees;
The second is to pay attention to maintaining the correct posture. The body is in a flat floating state, relaxed and stretched, the coordination of hand and foot movements is in place, and the swimming speed is balanced. It is not advisable to be too fast or too fierce;
The third is to control the swimming time reasonably. Each swimming time should not be too long, and it is recommended not to exceed 1 hour;
Fourth, relax properly after swimming. By stretching muscle ligaments, regulating breathing and supplementing nutrition, the body can recover better.
Remind that once you have shoulder discomfort, you should stop swimming. After 1-2 weeks of rest, the pain is still not relieved, so you need to seek medical advice in time.
How to treat "swimming shoulder"
It is recommended to stop all pain-inducing activities or training. At present, effective treatments include: using anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs (oral, topical or local injection), ice compress, acupuncture exercise therapy, physical therapy and rehabilitation exercise.
If the above conservative treatment fails or rotator cuff tears occur, surgical repair should be performed as soon as possible.
Editor: Geng Jieyu
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