Shoulder Injury Prevention Program in Swimmers

University of North Carolina (UNC)

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 2

Conditions: Shoulder Injury

Treatments: Procedure: Shoulder Strengthening

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT00998777

SwimmersShoulder

Details and patient eligibility

About

The primary purpose of this study is to assess changes in shoulder muscle strength, shoulder movement, shoulder flexibility, muscle thickness, upper arm torsion angle, and subacromial width (space where the rotator cuff muscle passes through) after completing a 6-week shoulder strengthening and stretching program in division I collegiate swimmers. The result of this study may demonstrate the effectiveness of a strengthening and stretching program to positively influence factors that have been associated with pain and injury in division I collegiate swimmers and indicate the need to implement this program for the entire team. Following a 6-week strengthening and stretching program, it is believed that scapular kinematics, shoulder flexibility, and shoulder and scapular stabilizer strength will be improved compared to control subjects.

Enrollment: 48 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 25 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Subjects will be included in the study if they meet the following criteria:

  • NCAA division I swimmers
  • Participate in swimming for at least 30 minutes per day for 4 days per week.
  • Participate in all team weight lifting sessions.
  • Complete 15 of the 18 training sessions if the subject is placed in the treatment group.

Exclusion criteria

• Subjects will be excluded from the study if:

  • They are currently being treated for shoulder pain
  • They develop shoulder pain during the course of the intervention program

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

---

48 participants in 1 patient group

Shoulder Strengthening

Experimental group

Description:

The shoulder strengthening program is a 6-week intervention aimed to improve shoulder and scapular stabilizer strength and scapular kinematics. The program includes 10 exercises: shoulder flexion, Ys,Ts,Ws, Throwing Acceleration, Throwing Deceleration, Low Rows, Dynamic Hug, IR @ 90, and ER @ 90. The program also includes 2 stretches: sleeper stretch and corner stretch.

Treatment:

Procedure: Shoulder Strengthening