Preventing injuries

Dr Maninder Shah Singh tells you what can be done to prevent swimming injuries

Swimming is said to be an excellent low-impact physical exercise which gives us a full body workout. With summer on the anvil, going for swimming in a local pool may seem like a rejuvenating idea. However, it can prove to be hazardous when it comes to overall health and well-being of individuals. While long hours of exposure in the pool can lead to contagious diseases, allergies, and respiratory illnesses, without adherence to proper stroke techniques, professional or amateur swimmers can get mild to moderate sports injuries often followed by micro-trauma, biceps tendinitis, or various types of joint pain.

All four strokes — freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly strokes, require intense use of various bones and joints in our bodies. Some common types of orthopedic injuries resulting from swimming include knee problems and hip problems from breaststroke kicks, back injuries from dolphin kicks or cross-training, De Quervain’s tenosynovitis (for wrists) among others. On the other hand, many swimmers also opt for diving after their daily swim sessions. Diving injuries are mostly caused because people tend to overestimate the depth of the pool and end up in life-threatening injuries. Not only can these injuries cause cuts and bruises, in severe cases, acute head and spinal cord damage and paralysis can occur, even leading to death.

In general, we have noticed competitive swimmers experiencing problems with their shoulder. Given that a swimmer’s shoulder is very mobile, it is no wonder there is high incidence of biomechanical or kinematic abnormalities noted in them. Swimmers often suffer from shoulder laxity and rotator cuff injuries in and around the shoulder. As the shoulder gets pushed to limits in terms of endurance over the long-term, the rotator cuff muscles begin to fatigue, which in turn, decreases stroke efficiency potential. If the rotator cuff tendons are impinged, it can lead to wear and tear in the joint also.

If you are experiencing decrease in locomotive ability and abnormal pain in body joint, try to identify possible contributing factors such as changes in intensity, distance, or stroke mechanics you may have embraced recently. Symptoms of injuries in the shoulder include varying degrees of pain accompanied by popping sounds. Very often athletes tend to ignore pain and hence underlying problems such as rotator cuff overuse, bursitis, tendonitis, etc. are not detected early. Everyone must understand that the sooner the problem is addressed, the better the chance for a quicker recovery, when it comes to swimming related orthopaedic problems. A few other things swimmers must keep in mind to ensure safety:

• Swimming techniques can be improved greatly by increasing muscle strength, flexibility, and stroke mechanics, and consultation with professional mentors should be done regularly in this context.
• Reduce repetitive strokes as much possible as they may be causing overuse injuries.
• Instead of entering thumb, use flat hand, finger tip first when you begin to swim.
• Take frequent breaks between swimming sessions to help the muscles recover.
• Practice scapular strengthening to prevent shoulder injuries and do pelvic and hip strengthening exercises before your daily swim session.
• Give attention to your upper body posture. Improved alignment and posture implies that the power of the pull phase is dramatically improved, resulting in less possibility of impingements.
• Do not attempt to swim if you are too tired or experiencing too much pain.

The writer is a senior consultant orthopedic surgeon, Chief Foot & Ankle Unit, Coordinator Sports Injury Unit, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, Vasant Kunj, Delhi