Because swimming puts a lot of stress on every joint and muscle in the body, it can cause sports injuries such as rotator cuff tendonitis, shoulder injuries, lower back pain, neck pain, and knee injuries if care is not taken. An orthopedist who specializes in sports medicine can diagnose and treat these injuries. If you swim regularly, continue reading for helpful tips on how to prevent orthopedic injuries.
Perform Strengthening Exercises in and Out of the Pool
A strong core and core stability is essential in preventing orthopedic injuries while swimming. While in the pool, do some simple exercises to strengthen your core. As you swim, take care to stretch through your lower core with each stroke. Another important strengthening exercise is to squeeze your butt muscles lightly while you swim to strengthen your lower core and glutes. Finally, when outside of the pool, pay careful attention to your posture. Don’t hunch or slouch, but instead sit up straight with your shoulders back and your chest forward.
Practice Good Stroke Technique
The best swim stroke technique includes a fluid and relaxed arm and kick action. You want to reach your arms out ahead of you as far as possible with each arm stroke. To avoid orthopedic injuries, however, you should try to reduce the amount of repetitive strokes that you use during swim practices. This will lessen your chances of developing a repetitive stress injury in your wrists or knees.
Visit an Orthopedic Doctor Regularly
An orthopedist or orthopedic surgeon with experience in sports medicine can offer you valuable tips on preventing orthopedic injuries while swimming. He or she can give you great advice on pre and post workout exercises, and teach you how to strengthen your core.
At Able Orthopedic and Sports Medicine, our doctors have years of experience treating common swimming injuries and developing injury prevention strategies. We treat an array of sports injuries in Queens through surgical and non-surgical procedures. For more information, visit our website, or call us today at (347) 846-0037.