As swimmers, we’re all too familiar with the frustrating reality of injuries. Whether it’s a nagging pain in your shoulder, a persistent ache in your neck, or a twisted ankle, these setbacks can leave us feeling sidelined and defeated. But perhaps even more frustrating than the injury itself is the question that inevitably follows: how long until I can get back in the pool? The answer, unfortunately, is never simple. Even for two swimmers with seemingly identical injuries, the recovery time can vary drastically. This blog will take a deep dive into some of the key considerations for how long it may take to recovery from your injury. So if you’re ready to dive in, keep reading.
What Have I Seen As a Physical Therapist?
From my experience, it will usually take around 6-12 weeks for a fully swimmer to recover from an injury. While a swimmer may start to feel better in little as two weeks, it takes longer than that for the painful tissues to fully calm down. This can vary significantly based on a couple of factors. Some of the considerations are for this are…
How long has the injury been around?
For an injury that has been going on for a while, it may take longer to heal. Not not necessarily because of more damage, but because your body has had a longer time to develop dysfunctional movement patterns as a result of the pain. This requires more time for your body to undue those compensation patterns and to allow for the irritated tissues to calm down.
How severe or irritable is your pain?
This one may seem obvious, but the more severe you pain is, the longer your recovery could be. This may not always be true though, as some acute injuries have high levels of pain, but improve relatively quickly. The more irritable a body part, the longer it usually takes for the muscle, tendon, ligament, etc. to calm down, making the recovery time longer.
During what strokes do you feel your pain?
For swimmers that have pain during freestyle, resuming full training may take longer. Why? Because the majority of practice is spent doing freestyle. Pain during freestyle may require you to stop your workout early, but if you do not have pain during freestyle the you may be able to do the whole workout.
How much swimming have you been able to do?
This is similar to the last consideration. For swimmers who have not been able to do much swimming because of their injury, their recovery time from swimmers shoulder will be longer. Not only does the injured body part have to recover, but it will take time to gradually progress your training volume to get back to where it was before the injury. If you do not gradually progress your training, you may risk reinjuring yourself or injuring another another area.
If you are dealing with shoulder pain and do not know if you can still swim, check out a previous which helps you decide whether you can still swim or not with swimmers shoulder.
What area of your Body is Injured?
From my experience, pain or stiffness in the neck will resolve a little faster than a shoulder injury. Once the neck regains full motion and any soft tissue restrictions are cleared, swimmers I have worked with can return to full training relatively fast, while shoulder pain tends to linger for a couple more weeks.
What have you been told about your injury so far?
Some swimmers may see a doctor or other healthcare providers before they come to see me. Some swimmers will also turn to doctor google to look for advice too. Depending on what they have read or been told, a swimmer may have certain beliefs about their injury and what is going on. This can either be helpful or harmful.
If a swimmer has been told to stop swimming because it may lead to more damage, this often increases stress and fear about their injury. This may lead to apprehension about returning to swim and wanting to do it in a slower, more cautious approach. Those concerns are absolutely reasonable, but after creating a plan to get back in the pool, clearing any misconceptions about their injury, and discussing any other questions about their injury, those concerns tend to decrease.
What Does The Research Say?
The research is sparse on recovery times for non-surgical injuries, especially regarding swimmers. Most articles that compare interventions last between 6-12 weeks and many show significant improvements in pain, function, and strength at those time points. But this does not mean swimmers shoulder takes that long to recover. It also does not mean a swimmer has to stay out of the water and not train for that long either. Making modifications to your training is a much better option than stopping your swimming all together. Check out a recent blog on this topic, here.
Although it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, a 2018 study on common running injuries can provide some insight. Despite the differences between running and swimming, the healing process and recovery time for certain injuries, such as achilles tendonitis and patellofemoral pain syndrome, are similar. According to the study, the median recovery time for these injuries is around 6-8 weeks, which aligns with what I’ve seen for swimmers as well.
What About After A Surgery?
If you have recently had shoulder surgery, your recovery time is much longer. For example, with a SLAP repair, you will likely be able to swim again at 6 months post surgery. The timeline may vary, it is dependent on your surgeon. For a rotator cuff repair, you may be able to return to swimming around the 5 months post surgery, but again this is dependent on your surgeon.
Conclusion:
There is a little evidence on recovery time for swimmers shoulder or other swimming injuries, but from my experience, other sports, and some research, it will usually take 4-8 weeks to recover. This is dependent on a lot of factors, such as how severe the injury is, how long has the injury been around, how much can you swim still, what area is injured, etc.
Have you been dealing with an injury and feel like its not getting better? Let’s do something about it.
Thanks for reading!
Alex Ewart
Please note: This is NOT medical advice. If you are dealing with an injury, please see a licensed medical professional.