How Can Swimming Reduce Back Pain?

Swimming for Chiropractic Care

Do you have back pain? Are you seeking other natural, non-invasive ways to relieve it? Ones that don’t involve surgery or pain medication? Then swimming might be right for you. When combined with a regular regimen of chiropractic care, swimming on a casual, but routine basis is beneficial and can actually help reduce back pain and pain management.

That’s because, for the casual swimmer, swimming is a fairly benign sport, according to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA). Of course, according to ACA, more advanced swimmers – such as those who compete on a high school, college or Olympic level and swim between 4,000 and 8,000 yards a day in the pool – can sustain injuries such as overextension of the neck, shoulder and lower back from daily practice, competition and overtraining.

However, for the average person who’s not a competitive swimmer, swimming is generally a low-impact exercise that’s easy on your musculoskeletal system while providing a good aerobic workout. In fact, swimming is a great exercise for all ages and abilities.

How Swimming Can Reduce Back Pain

You might think that because you have back pain, you should avoid any form of exercise. That’s not true. You simply have to pick an activity, such as swimming, that won’t aggravate your spine and your condition because exercise, specifically low-impact exercise such as swimming, can help manage the soreness and symptoms of chronic pain. Active exercise is truly the first step in breaking the pain cycle and becoming more fit.

More specifically, swimming is a form of active stretching and is not weight-bearing because the water supports the body and the buoyancy relieves stress on all joints of the body. As a result, it actually ensures a full range of motion for many different body parts, including your back.

Furthermore, swimming provides just enough resistance from the water to create the ideal condition for an aerobic workout, which, in turn, helps you increase your stamina, strength and fitness level without overtaxing your back.

In addition to helping decrease back pain, swimming can help those suffering from arthritis because of the improved range of motion it provides and can reduce the risk of osteoarthritis, as well as osteoporosis, especially in postmenopausal women. Pregnant women find their shoulder and abdominal muscles become stronger as a result of swimming on a regular basis. Fibromyalgia sufferers have also experienced improved mood and decreased anxiety and depression after swimming in a warm pool.

Additional overall benefits of swimming – and other physical activity and exercise – not only include decreased pain, but also reduced fatigue, tenderness, and blood pressure. Plus, there’s an increase in heart efficiency, metabolism, and energy, along with an improvement of sleep patterns.

However, before starting to swim – or embarking upon any aerobics, yoga, fitness or weight-training regimen – experts agree you should consult with your doctor. In particular, your chiropractor can help you identify an aerobic activity that dovetails with your condition and the level of chiropractic care you’re currently receiving.

Once you’ve consulted your medical professional, you can then find a swim stroke or water activity that you like, making sure you’re easing into it to acclimate your body to the increased physical activity.

Connection between Swimming and Chiropractic Care

To learn more about the wellness connection among swimming, reduced back pain and chiropractic care and to understand how you can benefit and achieve relief, give Dr. Goldman in Medford a call at (631) 447-2299 today.

His chiropractic treatments for back pain, which range from chiropractic spinal adjustments to spinal decompression therapy, address the underlying musculoskeletal misalignments that are triggering your pain instead of masking these symptoms with medication. Our Medford chiropractor follows evidenced-based treatment protocols that start with diagnostic exams to precisely determine the cause of your pain.

He can also help competitive swimmers with conditioning and exercises to improve flexibility, adjustments to extend the range of motion, and modifications to strengthen balance and improve posture and alignment.

Studies have shown regular chiropractic care helps athletes recover more quickly and heal properly, reducing pain and diminishing inflammation, so they can get back into the pool more quickly.