Shoulder injuries in competitive swimmers in KwaZulu-

Abstract

Swimming is a popular recreational and professional sport code both locally and internationally. The South African swimming team represents South Africa at the Olympics and other world-level competitions. To ensure that these participants and those who will replace them on the world arena can function optimally, it is essential to keep them injury-free. In order to ensure that the best conditioning programmes are developed it is important to know the incidence and other related information pertaining to injury in these athletes. The shoulder joint is the most vulnerable to injury, as has been shown in many reports. 3,6,[8][9][10][11] To date very little research on the epidemiology of shoulder or other injuries in South African swimmers has been published in the scientific literature.Literature from several developed countries reveals information on the incidence, 1,2,7,8 and types 1,7,8,9 of shoulder injuries as well as the effects of training 7 on shoulder injury sustained in this sport. Most swimming injuries are due to repetitive microtrauma and overuse, with many of these injuries actually due to faulty technique. 10,11 Repeated microtrauma and overuse strain of passive and active components of the shoulder lead to diminished performance over a period of time (overuse) and can lead to acute injury, resulting in reduced ability or an inability to participate in the sport. In both cases, professional training programmes, and sport-specific conditioning are crucial in determining whether participation and performance can be optimised.When one considers the biomechanics of the shoulder joint and the demand placed on it during each of the swimming strokes, it becomes clear that a very high level of specificity in conditioning is appropriate. The structural limitations imposed by a shallow glenoid cavity together with a large degree of motion suggest the need for balanced muscle control at all times. 13The main power of propulsion is provided by arm action during the pull phase in all strokes, with the exception of breaststroke. 14 Athletes, who use the arm for propelling, strain at the extremes of joint range in their drive for maximum performance. Design.A cross-sectional survey was conducted. A random sample of 96 swimmers from a pool of 300 swimmers registered with first-division clubs affiliated to the KwaZulu-Natal Aquatics Association participated in the study by informed voluntary consent. Data were gathered using a validated questionnaire.setting. Data were gathered at time trials, races and club meetings. Main measures.Variables monitored included the incidence of shoulder injuries, shoulder pain and proportion of overuse injury.results. Seventy-one per cent of the swimmers had shoulder pain and 64% reported injury to the shoulder. Forty-six per cent of the swimmers with pain complained of anterior shoulder pain, while 65% of all injuries were due to overuse. The commonest diagnoses included tendonitis (35%), muscle imbalance (29%), impingement (19%) and other (17%). Sixty-nine per cent of the swimmers...

Prevalence of Subacromial Impingement Among Egyptian Swimmers: A Cross Sectional Survey Study

“…The most common diagnoses involved tendonitis (35%), muscular imbalance (29%), impingement (19%) and others (17%). Despite that our study use the same age factor as Puckree and Thomas [22] , our results were higher than 19%. for impingement injuries as it recorded 37.7 %.…”

“…The findings of Troup et al [21] showed that the rate of incidence in shoulder pain is higher in males (70%) than in females (65%), while in our study all participant suffered from shoulder pain with different intensities and the rate of subacromial injury was slightly higher in females. In the other hand Puckree and Thomas [22] studied swimmers with shoulder pain irrespective of gender or race, for the age bracket of 13-25 years. A randomized sample involving about 96 athletes were invited to join from 300 registered swimmers, and they found that 71% of the swimmers had shoulder pain 64% out of them are reported with shoulder injury.…”