How to Avoid the Most Common Swim Injuries While in the Pool
Swimming is a sport to enjoy, and it has the capability to help you relax. However, it is crucial to do it right, as many are prone to injuries caused by swimming. During swimming lessons for two year olds or even adults, they’re taught proper form and the best way to carry their body in the water. However, if it has been a while since you’ve swam in a class and have been experiencing pain and would like to learn more about how to deal with them, here are the four most common injuries you can experience from the pool:
1. Shoulder Strain
When swimming, your shoulder is the most used body part and can be strained easily. Research states that shoulder pain is a pain that most swimmers experience at some point in their swimming journeys. If you repeat these motions often enough, it can cause damage to the tissue in your shoulders, leading to a significant amount of time out of the pool. What you can do to avoid this is to ensure that your technique in the water is well performed. Pay close attention to how your arms move when you’re swimming, and change your form if you feel a lot of strain on your shoulders.
2. Ear Infection
This may shock most, as ears are not something you consciously use when you swim. However, a part of your body is actively exposed to the pool as water can go into it. Most swimmers experience clogged ears, muffled hearing, persistent itching and many more. This usually causes an infection, which is painful and challenging to recover from. To avoid this, ensure to avoid swimming in water that isn’t clean and to clean out your ears after each swim.
3. Neck Injury
During techniques such as the breaststroke and freestyle strokes, you will notice that your neck is doing a significant amount of work as you’d need to keep your head above water for each breath and rotate your neck sideways, respectively. This will cause a strain on your neck, leading to painful injuries. One way to avoid this is to keep your head aligned with your spine while swimming. When you’re taking in a breath during a freestyle, you’re not only supposed to twist your neck. Rotate your whole body so the strain is not on your neck and you swim correctly.
4. Lower Back Pain
If you’re one to frequent the breaststroke and the butterfly stroke, you will notice that your lower back hurts from time to time. This is due to your head needing to lift from the water while your hips and legs are submerged. Swimmers tend to overarch their lower back to ensure this form is executed, which adds stress to your back muscles. To avoid this, you’d need to practice proper form and ensure it doesn’t give you any pain before focusing on your stamina and speed.
Conclusion
Swimming may have common injuries, but they can be overcome, and you can swim with the best preventive measures in place. If you’re new to swimming, read up on the points to take note of before swimming for the first time. Additionally, if you’d like to be safe and have the guidance of a swim instructor, Swim2u offers classes just for you! With swimming classes for ladies only, adults, children, and more, we are equipped with experienced hands to ensure a safe and enjoyable lesson for you. Sign up with us now!