Do you have back pain? Learn to swim well

Swimming is a “complete” sport that helps prevent back pain, both when practiced alone and when it is used to counterbalance the unfavorable effects of asymmetrical sports. But, like any physical activity, it must be practiced in the right way. Some useful tricks.

Swimming has always been considered one of the most complete sports because it allows you to train almost all muscle districts harmoniously, without generating asymmetries or causing excessive stress on the joints, tendons, ligaments and supporting tissues, at least when it is not practiced at a competitive level, but in the context of common amateur physical activity.

For these reasons, swimming can also be very useful for preventing pain such as back pain and for the rehabilitation of the musculoskeletal system after trauma, surgery or a period of forced inactivity (for example, due to a cast or the need to wear a brace or corset for several weeks or months).

To reap real benefits and no inconvenience, however, it is necessary to pay attention to the type of swimming that is practiced, how it is practiced and with what intensity, especially if there is a specific pathology or problem such as:

• a kyphosis, curvature of the dorsal spine that determines the formation of the classic hump
• a lordosis, deformity of the vertebrae characterized by a deep sinking of the spine in the lumbar region
• herniated discs
• a scoliotic attitude.

In all these cases, a preliminary orthopedic and physiatric evaluation or by a sports medicine specialist is essential.

To learn more about back pain read this sheet.

Strengthens muscles and supports the spine

Those who suffer from back pain are often induced to limit physical activity in order to decrease or not feel pain, but this attitude is not always correct. Rest, in fact, is useful and recommended for a few days during acute attacks of back pain (when the pain is very intense and there is also a muscle contracture), but it should never be prolonged too long so as not to let the supporting muscles of the spine (spine) weaken, with the result of favoring attacks of back pain even more frequent and severe.

On the contrary, those who suffer from these disorders must keep moving constantly because a strong and elastic musculature incurs these problems less easily. Therefore, with a view to prevention and support for more specific therapies, it is necessary to plan regular physical activity, obviously always balanced and in accordance with one’s health conditions and general physical potential.

In particular, to prevent back pain, especially in people who often suffer from this disorder, it is necessary to strengthen the muscles that support the spine, namely those paravertebral and lumbar region. In addition, we must not forget the fundamental role played by the abdominals in keeping the torso erect, in a physiological position.

Swimming, which involves both the muscles of the back, shoulders and arms, and the abdominal ones, can be very useful in this case, although it does not necessarily represent a real panacea for back pain. Like any physical activity, in fact, swimming must be performed carefully, limiting exercises or styles that could even be harmful in situations where back pain is of a serious nature.

May be useless or harmful

When there are important problems at the base of back pain, such as a neglected scoliosis dating back to youth or kyphosis or lordosis acquired over the years, doctors advise you to pay close attention to any type of physical activity you choose to practice continuously, including swimming.

It has in fact been demonstrated, despite an ancient custom indicating otherwise, that this sport is not a therapy for scoliosis and that indeed, in certain cases, it can be harmful if not planned and monitored by sports doctors or experienced physiotherapists. Some studies even indicate that if a subject with scoliosis practices exclusively swimming, he can experience greater asymmetries and a substantial “collapse” of the back, because the muscle strengthening that is obtained in discharge is not sufficient.

Even for young and perfectly healthy people from a musculoskeletal point of view, some swimming styles such as breaststroke and dolphin or butterfly, if practiced too intensely or with an imperfect technique, can be the cause more than the solution of back pain, because the loads applied to the different areas of the spine (cervical, dorsal and lumbar) can exceed the physiological tolerability limit and give rise to vertebral slips, inflammation and contractures. As can be witnessed by the swimmers who have chosen to practice these styles at a competitive level.

On the other hand, swimming, combined with postural gymnastics exercises and practiced correctly and with criterion, allows to improve the general condition of the back, because it allows to tone and strengthen the muscles that stabilize the spine and the trunk in general and thus prevent, at least in part, the development of deformations related to osteoarthritis that is established with aging.

This favorable effect of swimming on the back, moreover, is obtained without imposing loads that could damage and promote the development of inflammation and osteoarthritis on other joints (such as the knee or hip, in the case of running or sports that require you to load the weight of the body on the legs, such as football , basketball or tennis). Moving into the water, therefore in the absence of gravity, the joints are not in fact stressed more than they should.

This aspect is particularly important in a rehabilitation context: especially when the pain is still partly present, moving in the water is easier and safer, because movements can be controlled more precisely and “fluidly”, avoiding sudden jerks that could exacerbate the symptoms. In addition, with regard to back pain in particular, swimming allows the stretching of the spine and the relaxation of the supporting muscles.

Greater benefits when combined with other activities

For those who have received a diagnosis of low back pain, in addition to swimming in the pool, are also recommended:

• Additional personalized training paths to strengthen and tone all the muscles of the trunk
• postural gymnastics sessions, to correct mistakes usually made in everyday life, in the professional or domestic environment (for example, when sitting for a long time in the office or in the car, or lifting or carrying weights) and during night rest.

Swimming is also a perfect complementary physical activity, to be practiced in rotation, to counterbalance the improper stresses on the back due to the practice of sports:

• asymmetrical (such as tennis, golf, archery, etc.)
• that require the maintenance of a non-physiological position for the back (such as racing bike or mountain bike)
• that require repeated hyperextension of the spine (such as artistic gymnastics). In this case, however, frog and dolphin or butterfly should be avoided, which lead to further hyperextension of the lumbar spine.

One thing that not everyone knows, however, is thatswimming is not the most suitable sport for those suffering from back pain due to the reduction of bone density of the vertebrae caused by osteoporosis. In this case, swimming is not harmful, but neither useful because to improve the state of bones depleted by osteoporosis it is essential to practice physical exercise associated with stimuli given by the force of gravity, as happens for example if you practice running, jumping, bodyweight gymnastics etc.

The right styles and exercises

Some types of swimming are not really suitable for those who have a tendency to suffer from back pain. Among the styles to avoid absolutely when the back is not in shape there are frog and dolphin (or butterfly), to which are added all the exercises for the legs that involve the use of the tablet.

In addition, even styles that are harmless in themselves can create problems: for example, freestyle performed incorrectly, due to the lack of learning the proper breathing technique, which involves immersion of the head alternating with inhalation out of the water during the rotation movement of the arm.

Keeping the head constantly stretched upwards, out of the water, in fact, imposes excessive stress at the level of the cervical and dorsal spine, which in turn promotes inflammation and contractures and can force you to stop after a few baths or can cause problems in the hours following training.

In addition, to keep the nose and mouth always above the surface of the water, you must arch the lumbar area of the spine more than necessary, risking further problems even at this level.

On the other hand, the freestyle and the backstroke are recommended when the technique is the right one. For this reason it is preferable not to improvise swimmers, but, especially at the beginning, to train under the supervision of an experienced instructor, able to correct any errors in execution and aware of our physical condition and our possible back problems.

Once you have learned to swim in the best way for your back, you can train peacefully in the pool alone or with friends, with a frequency of two or three weekly sessions of about an hour each, remembering to precede the entry into the water heating exercises on the ground, especially if you arrive at the poolside after spending several hours sitting in the office.

If, then, the back pain you suffer from is mainly due to incorrect postures maintained during the day or to stress and emotional tensions that contribute to contracting the paravertebral muscles (which, therefore, hurts, in addition to losing effectiveness in stabilizing the torso), then you will get the maximum benefit from swimming.