Swimmer’s Shoulder
Written by: Dr David Ness, CCSP, ART, CGFI
Swimmer’s shoulder (SS) is a term used by swim coaches to describe pain in one or both shoulders. The pain associated with SS is in the front of the shoulder. Under these muscles passes the supraspinatus muscle and tendon, which is a rotator cuff muscle. This muscle along with the Biceps tendon, are affected when you have SS causing tendonitis and inflammation of both tendons. As well, the ligaments that attach from the scapula (shoulder blade) and the clavicle (collar bone) become irritated and inflammation occurs. When this happens the space that the Supraspinatus tendon has to pass through to connect to the Humerus becomes smaller, pinching and further irritating the tendon. Due to age, hereditary factors, and arthritis the space for this tendon to pass through gets even smaller leading to more inflammation, scar tissue formation, pain, and shoulder weakness. Eventually, overuse of the shoulder that is common from triathlon training could cause a partial or full tear of the Supraspinatus tendon that could require a trip to the orthopedic to repair.