Did you know an average high school swimmer performs 1 to 2 million strokes annually with each arm? Swimming is the most popular and a healthy year-round sport in Australia and provides an all-body workout with lots of repetitive actions with resistance. Perth physiotherapy can provide excellent care for swimming injuries, and provide rehabilitation programs, pre-training activation/warm-up routines, and more.

Common Swimming Injuries

Shoulder Injury

Almost, 90% of the swimmers suffer from shoulder injuries which occur when the rotator cuff muscles which hold your shoulder in its socket are overused repetitively which leads to inflammation. Other reasons that contribute to shoulder pain include overtraining, unilateral breathing, poor swimming technique, and more.

Knee Injury

The knee injury is commonly seen in breaststroke swimmers due to the wide kick and increased the rotation of the knees. This repetitive stress results in inflammation and pain on the inner side of the knee. With proper warm-up and stretching program suggested by the best physio in Perth, this injury can be prevented.

Lower Back Pain

Lower back pain is caused in swimmers who follow poor swimming techniques. The symptoms generally include,

• Pain in the lower back
• Stiffness in the lower back
• Swelling in the lower back

Including some strengthening and stretching programs in your rehabilitation and physiotherapy in Perth will take some pressure off the spine.

Neck Pain

The high head position in the water causes neck pain in swimmers. The stiffness and pain in the neck will be alleviated by adding strengthening exercises to your Perth physiotherapy rehabilitation program.   

Other Common Swimming Injuries

• Foot and ankle injuries
• Elbow injuries
• Wrist and hand injuries

Factors that may affect the rate of overuse injury are,

• Age
• Previous injury
• Poor warm up
• Poor technique
• Muscle imbalance
• Overtraining

The treatment option for swimming injuries includes specific physiotherapy treatments to prevent the issue from reoccurring. Core strengthening exercises should be incorporated before and during the competitive season to decrease the risk of lower back injuries. A physio can help you in the following ways:

• Assess the type of injury
• Suggests the proper swimming technique
• Prescribes a variety of exercises to improve the strength
• Pilates, core, and postural advice and more.

Swimming injuries may cause severe pain and discomfort, and you may experience pain that gradually increases during exercise. Sports physiotherapy in Perth can reduce these symptoms and improves recovery. They have additional expertise in the assessment and management of sporting injuries among people who participate at a high level of the sport, overtraining, and more. They recommend you exercises and preventive measures to treat swimming injuries such as swimmers shoulder, shoulder instability, rotator cuff tendinopathy, MCL stress injury – Breaststroke knee, PFPS, Thoracic outlet syndrome, and more.