Memorial Day is experienced reverently and in celebration of the accomplishments of rites of Spring: cleaning, planting, trimming, and sprucing. The sound of steel wool on barbecue grill surfaces, scrubbing up the fire pits, and scaling off the calcium rings in swimming pools will complement the breezes swooshing through new foliage as we prepare for the onset of summer fun, and joy of Memorial Day.

Many of you should likewise prepare your shoulders for the holiday. Its not because the plates of food and the beverages will wear on your musculature, rather you are ill-prepared for water sport fun.

Swimmer’s shoulder is a term used to describe the shoulder symptoms of a competitive swimmer or the overzealous weekend athlete. The pain is similar to that experienced by many athletes playing positions requiring high volume throwing such as pitchers and quarterbacks. While the orientation of the body differs in swimming, the mechanisms of injury are very similar, repetitive wind-up, backward then forwards motions of the shoulder(s) overhead. In swimming, overhead is simply performed in a horizontal position.

Swimming can be even harder on an overzealous weekend sportsman because even between pitches and passes there are periods of rest. Whereas as long as you are moving through the water, your upper extremities, particularly your shoulders are getting a substantial workout. Moreover, swimming requires above average shoulder flexibility and range of motion to be performed well.

The muscle group most frequently injured is commonly referred to as the rotator cuff. The actual component most often offended is the tendon of the supraspinatus muscle as it inserts into the proximal aspect of your arm at the humerus. As such, the injury is known as supraspinatus or rotator cuff tendonitis.

To avoid the injury this spring, start warming up now. Stretching exercises involving reaching your hands forwards, rearwards, away from your sides, up as high as you can reach, “wing-flapping “ motions, and turning circles with your arms along your sides and/or in front of you as you lean forward slightly. There are more muscles, ligaments and cartilage that make up the rotator cuff and complementary elements than just the supraspinatus. You need to prepare all of them for your holiday fun and the summer activities on the way. Stretch your rotator cuff and avoid a Swimmers’ Shoulder injury.

Contact us with questions about this subject or others of interest to you.