Shoulder pain after tennis that makes it difficult to lift your arm can leave the shoulder painful or restricted because repeated serving and swinging can strain the rotator cuff and surrounding muscles.
Shoulder pain after tennis that makes lifting your arm difficult can feel sharp, sore, tight, or weak when you raise your arm overhead or reach out to the side. Repeated serving, overhead shots, and swinging can place ongoing stress on the rotator cuff and shoulder muscles, especially when the area is already fatigued.
When your shoulder hurts after tennis and lifting your arm becomes difficult, the problem can come from the repeated overhead and swinging movements involved in playing. The rotator cuff helps control your shoulder as you serve, reach for high balls, and swing through shots, while the surrounding shoulder muscles help with repeated movement.
After enough repetition, those muscles and tendons can become fatigued and less comfortable with another round of lifting or reaching. This can make a movement that normally feels easy suddenly feel restricted, painful, or weaker than usual after you finish playing.
Overhead Shots Make Lifting Your Arm More Painful
Serving and reaching overhead repeatedly can aggravate the shoulder.
When you serve or reach high for a ball, your rotator cuff has to help control the shoulder through a large range of motion. If the area is already strained or fatigued, lifting your arm afterward can become painful because those same muscles and tendons are being asked to work again.
The Pain Becomes More Noticeable After Repeated Swings
Repeated swings can leave the shoulder increasingly tired and painful.
As your tennis session continues, repeated swings and overhead shots can add more stress to the shoulder without giving the area much opportunity to settle down. The accumulated fatigue can change how comfortably you move your arm, so lifting it after playing may feel harder than it did at the beginning of your session.
Why Your Shoulder Keeps Hurting When Lifting
Your shoulder has a hard time healing when blood flow and circulation are limited.
Tendons, ligaments, and other soft tissues naturally receive less blood supply than many other parts of the body. Because of this, they often take longer to heal after repeated stress or injury, leaving you more vulnerable to lingering pain and a cycle of reinjury.
When circulation through the area remains limited, injured tissues have a harder time receiving the vital oxygen and nutrients they need to repair and heal. This can leave your shoulder feeling stiff, tight, weak, or painful during everyday movement and activity.
What Can Help Your Shoulder Feel Better
Your shoulder starts feeling better when blood flow and circulation improve.
Chinese herbs have been used for centuries to promote healthy blood flow and circulation. Their medicinal properties help break up stagnant blood and fluids that remain trapped around injured tissues, interfering with circulation. As circulation improves, blood flows more freely through the area, allowing those tissues to receive the oxygen and nutrients they need to heal properly.
Topical herbal remedies made with these Chinese herbs can help relieve pain while improving blood flow and circulation to injured tissues. The right product depends on your symptoms and whether you're in the acute or chronic stage of recovery.
If you have pain, swelling, inflammation, or bruising, Acute Sinew Liniment helps relieve these symptoms by increasing circulation and dispersing stagnant blood and fluids around the injured area to speed recovery. During the acute stage of healing, getting circulation moving early allows injured tissues to receive the fresh blood, oxygen, and nutrients they need to repair and heal.
If your injured area is especially swollen, red, or warm to the touch after a recent injury or flare-up, Sinew Herbal Ice is also used to reduce swelling and inflammation while restoring normal circulation so you can quickly regain range of motion. While traditional ice is commonly used to reduce swelling, Sinew Herbal Ice acts as an ice alternative to reduce swelling and inflammation while also dispersing accumulated blood and fluids to speed the healing process.
If you no longer have swelling or inflammation, but still have pain, stiffness, weakness, or sensitivity in cold and damp weather, Chronic Sinew Liniment helps relieve these symptoms by strongly stimulating circulation and increasing blood supply to injured tendons and ligaments to promote their healing. This is especially important because tendons and ligaments naturally receive less blood supply, which is why chronic injuries can take longer to heal.
If you have residual pain and stiffness, or the area becomes more painful in cold weather, Sinew Injury Poultice is also used to significantly stimulate circulation to injured tendons and ligaments to further promote their healing. By strongly increasing circulation, it counteracts the reduced blood flow caused by cold weather that commonly aggravates chronic tendon and ligament injuries.
If you exercise, play sports, or do other strenuous activities, Sinew Sports Massage Oil warms and stimulates muscles for exertion and relieves muscle tightness and soreness after activity. Warming and preparing your muscles before activity can improve flexibility, enhance performance, and reduce the risk of injury.
Frequently Asked Questions
You may also find these commonly asked questions helpful.
Why does my shoulder hurt after tennis when I lift my arm?
Repeated serving, overhead shots, and swinging can strain and fatigue the rotator cuff and shoulder muscles, making arm lifting painful after tennis.
Why is it hard to lift my arm after playing tennis?
Shoulder muscles and the rotator cuff can become fatigued or strained from repeated tennis movements, making overhead lifting feel painful or restricted.
Can tennis cause rotator cuff pain?
Yes. Repeated serving and overhead movements can place stress on the rotator cuff and contribute to shoulder pain during or after tennis.
Why does my shoulder hurt more after tennis than during it?
Your shoulder may become more painful as repeated swings and overhead movements accumulate fatigue and stress during the tennis session.
When should I get shoulder pain after tennis checked?
Persistent, severe, or worsening shoulder pain, especially when you cannot comfortably lift your arm, should be evaluated by a qualified healthcare professional.
Recommended Products
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• Acute Sinew Liniment — Used when pain, swelling, and inflammation are present to relieve pain, reduce swelling and inflammation, and increase blood flow and circulation to injured tissues.
• Sinew Herbal Ice — Used when the injured area is especially swollen, red, or warm to the touch to reduce swelling and inflammation while restoring normal circulation and range of motion.
• Chronic Sinew Liniment — Used for pain and stiffness after swelling and inflammation are gone to relieve pain, strongly stimulate circulation, and promote the healing of injured tendons and ligaments.
• Sinew Injury Poultice — Used for chronic tendon and ligament injuries to significantly stimulate circulation and promote deeper tissue recovery.
• Sinew Sports Massage Oil — Used before or after activity to warm and stimulate muscles, increase circulation, relieve tightness, and improve flexibility in muscles and joints.
The information provided here is intended to help you better understand your symptoms and recovery, but it is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Persistent, severe, or worsening symptoms should be evaluated by a qualified healthcare professional.
