Chiropractor Chandler AZ

Strong Swimmer- Preventing and Recovering from Swimming Injuries

Swimming is more popular than ever. A recent survey indicated that swimming ranks fourth overall in terms of outdoor activities - right after camping. By some counts, there are nearly five million private pools nationwide, with thousands more being built every single year. People marvel at Olympians like Michael Phelps, and swim teams remain an enduring fixture on the high school sports scene. While all of this is a seemingly positive trend, there is one downside: injuries.

While swimming is a relatively low impact activity, the repetitive nature of the sport can lead to injuries. Athletes who train and compete hard in swim meets, particularly young people who are still growing, can be especially prone to injuries. Swimmer's shoulder, a painful inflammation of the upper arm and shoulder area is one of the more common injuries competitive swimmers experience. If left untreated, swimmer's shoulder can lead to a labrum tear, a much more severe (and painful) injury. Breaststroker's knee, a painful inflammation caused by the high impact kick required for this particular swimming style, is another potential injury that swimmers affect swimmers. Fortunately, none of these injuries have to keep you out of the pool for too long. There are new and innovative techniques to treat common swimming injuries, alleviate pain, and get you back free styling in a relatively short amount of time.

The Graston Technique: Tailor-Made for Swimmers

One of the newer treatments for typical swimming injuries is the Graston Technique (GT). GT is a form of soft tissue mobilization. GT involves a trained practitioner using a specially designed set of stainless steel instruments to manipulate afflicted soft tissue. The GT instruments allow clinicians to identify injured tissue, and then are used to break down scar tissue and other restrictors.

The technique facilitates increased blood flow to problem areas, alleviates pain, and can speed up the recovery process. While still a relatively new medical innovation, several clinical trials have affirmed the Graston Technique's effectiveness at addressing soft tissue injuries.

GT therapy is great news for swimmers. Competitive swimmers often experience strained muscles and tendons, or adhesions, which keep muscles painfully tight and limit range of motion. Additionally, the repetitive nature of many swimming strokes can leave athletes with a myriad of body pain and injures, all of which are extremely difficult to address with a foam roller or by stretching your legs out poolside. GT can immediately address the buildup of scar tissue, alleviate lingering pain, and promote soft tissue healing. The Graston technique can be especially effective at addressing injuries before they become serious and debilitating, so it is worth checking with your physical therapist to get treatment as soon as your aches and pains start adding up.

Active Release Treatment Therapy (ART) for Swimming Injuries

Active Release Therapy, or ART, is another relatively new non-invasive technique to treat injuries commonly seen in serious swimmers. ART is a patented technique that involves hand manipulation of soft tissue by a trained practitioner. ART's 500-move treatment protocol is exceptionally effective at identifying damaged soft tissue, and then treating it. These carefully designed, precision movements, like GT, can help increase blood flow, alleviate pain, and restore range of motion. All of this, again, is great news for swimming enthusiasts.

ART can help address the type of repetitive motion injuries that are endemic to swimmers. Specially trained ART practitioners are adept at identifying the source of soft tissue injury or pain, then breaking down the scar tissue causing it. Active Release Therapy is also used as a preventative measure to keep muscles and tendons primed for workouts, thus avoiding injury altogether.

Don't Let Injuries Send You to the Shallow End

Swimming is a great, low impact activity to get yourself in shape and stay that way. It is also a phenomenally challenging endurance sport. The intensity of competitive swimming, like any other demanding activity, can frequently lead to recurring pain or injury. The Graston Technique and Active Release Therapy offer swimmers innovative ways to keep muscles and tendons in good shape, and prevent injury altogether. They are also extremely effective at treating soft tissue injuries and rapidly getting swimmer's back into the pool and working out. So don't wait until it's too late. Do your homework, find a clinician who offers GT or ART and keep yourself injury free lap after lap.

Our Chandler Chiropractic and Physical Therapy clinic treats patients with a variety of muscle, tendon, joint, and ligament injuries. The clinic provides treatment for runners, tri-athletes, and weekend warriors in addition to common headache, neck, and back patients traditionally seen in Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Massage Therapy clinics. We work with all ages and abilities of the residents in Phoenix, Tempe, Gilbert, Mesa, and Chandler AZ.