I Hurt My Shoulder Swimming and Now It Hurts Every Time I Raise My Arm

Your shoulder hurts every time you raise your arm after swimming because the repeated overhead motion may have strained or irritated the muscles and tendons that help lift your arm.

You may have first noticed the pain while swimming, or you may not have felt how irritated your shoulder was until afterward. Now something as simple as reaching into a cabinet, putting on a shirt, or lifting your arm overhead can bring back the same uncomfortable spot.

The frustrating part is that your shoulder may move normally through part of the motion before suddenly starting to hurt. When the area has been stressed by repeated swimming strokes, raising your arm can keep bringing the sore muscles and tendons through the same painful movement again.

The Pain Starts As Your Arm Moves Higher

You may feel your shoulder begin to hurt halfway through lifting your arm, especially as you reach toward or above shoulder height.

The first part of the movement may feel manageable, then the pain suddenly catches as your arm gets higher. Swimming repeatedly asks your shoulder to reach overhead and pull through the water, which can leave the rotator cuff sore when you continue using that same range afterward.

Your Shoulder May Feel Fine Until You Reach For Something

You may not notice much pain at rest, but ordinary reaching keeps reminding you that your shoulder is still sore.

You might sit comfortably for a while and assume the shoulder is improving, only to feel it pull again when reaching for a shelf, washing your hair, or putting something overhead. Those everyday movements can repeatedly wake up the painful area before it has had enough time to recover from the stress of swimming.

Why Your Shoulder Keeps Hurting When You Lift

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 repeated irritation.

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 when I raise my arm after swimming?

Repeated swimming strokes can strain or irritate the rotator cuff and surrounding shoulder muscles, making overhead movement painful afterward.

Should I keep swimming if my shoulder hurts when I lift my arm?

Continuing painful overhead movement can keep stressing the area. Reducing or avoiding movements that reproduce the pain may give your shoulder time to recover.

Why does my shoulder hurt more when I reach overhead?

Raising your arm overhead uses the same shoulder muscles and tendons repeatedly stressed during swimming, which can make the sore area hurt more at higher ranges.

How long can shoulder pain after swimming last?

Mild soreness may improve with rest, but pain that keeps returning with arm movement can last longer when the shoulder continues to be repeatedly stressed.

When should shoulder pain after swimming be checked?

Severe pain, significant weakness, loss of movement, swelling, or symptoms that persist or worsen should be evaluated by a qualified healthcare professional.

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.