Swimmer’s Shoulder

Abstract

“Swimmer’s shoulder” is a blanket term describing shoulder pain in competitive swimmers which commonly arise from microtraumas due to overuse, fatigue, and/or poor stroke mechanics. The differential diagnosis of shoulder pain in swimmers includes subacromial impingement, rotator cuff tendinopathy, labral pathology, suprascapular nerve entrapment, or any combination thereof. Additionally, injury may be accompanied or exacerbated by structural abnormalities including scapular dyskinesis, glenohumeral hyperlaxity, excess subluxation, glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD), or muscle strength imbalances. Given this multifactorial etiology, it is imperative that coaches and clinicians be well-versed in the prevention, diagnosis, and appropriate operative and non-operative management of the various shoulder pathologies possible in competitive swimmers.