Stiff Neck and Sore Shoulders From Swimming

Swimming is meant to be the joint-friendly option, which is why a stiff neck or an aching shoulder after a few weeks of lap swimming feels unfair. Both are common, and both usually come down to technique and volume rather than the water.

The neck: it’s usually breathing

Two habits do most of the damage in freestyle.

• Lifting the head instead of rotating. The head should turn with the body roll, one goggle in the water. Lifting it to breathe extends the neck and drops the hips, which makes everything harder.
• Breathing to one side only. Hundreds of repetitions turning the same way loads one side of the neck. Bilateral breathing, every three strokes, spreads it.

Breaststroke has its own version: swimming with the head permanently up, out of the water, which holds the neck extended for the whole session. Common in people who don’t like putting their face in, and this makes it extra tough on the neck and lower back. It’s the same sustained-extension problem as riding a bike with your head up.

The shoulder: it’s usually volume (too much loading)

Swimming shoulder pain is typically an overload problem. It follows a jump in distance, a new training block, or going from nothing to four sessions a week. The same story as racquet sports shoulder and elbow pain.

Contributors worth checking: entering the hand across the midline, a thumb-first entry that rotates the shoulder inwards, and paddles or bands added before the shoulder is conditioned for them. Paddles in particular are where a lot of swimming shoulders start.

Using heat

After a session, once you’re dry and out of your costume: 15–20 minutes over the neck and shoulders, sitting upright and supported, cover on, lowest setting. Then chin tucks, shoulder rolls and a doorway chest stretch. Pain that settles between the shoulder blades instead: shoulder blade pain.

Two things to be strict about.

Never use an electric pad anywhere near wet skin, wet hair or a wet costume. Dry off properly first, and see the electrical safety basics. And if a shoulder is freshly painful and swollen after a hard session, cold suits the first day or two better: the 48–72 hour rule.

Heat before a swim is useful too if you’re stiff: warm up on land, then move. See “my physio said use heat”, and frozen shoulder if the stiffness is severe and progressive rather than activity-related.

What actually fixes it

• Reduce volume temporarily, rather than stopping altogether. Fewer laps, easier pace.
• Drop the paddles and bands until it settles.
• Vary strokes. Backstroke loads the shoulder differently from freestyle.
• A coached technique session. For adult swimmers, this fixes more shoulder and neck pain than any treatment. Most people have never had their stroke looked at.
• Land-based strength work for the rotator cuff and the muscles around the shoulder blade. Swimmers are often strong in the pull and weak in everything that stabilises. See heat and weight training.
• Build back gradually, adding a little each week rather than returning to your old distance in one go. Expect some soreness along the way.

See a physio if…

• Shoulder pain is there at rest, or wakes you at night, particularly lying on that side
• You can’t lift the arm overhead, or it feels weak
• The shoulder clicks painfully, catches, or feels like it might slip
• Pain, numbness or tingling runs down the arm
• Neck pain comes with headache or dizziness
• It isn’t settling after two or three weeks of reduced volume

Swimming is worth persisting with. It’s just worth fixing the stroke rather than swimming through it.

Clinically reviewed by: Nigel Chua (Hand Occupational Therapist) & Louise Yow (Physiotherapist). This article is general information, not a diagnosis. electricheatpad.com sells electric heat pads.