Rowing – The Latest Craze
Following on from the huge success of the O’Donovan brothers in the Rio Olympics, the population may start to get involved in rowing. The brothers were fantastic in Rio and brought home a silver medal for Ireland. After this achievement, many of Irelands’ residents might start to turn to the water as they look to lead healthy and active lives. Here are some common injuries to look out for in the sport and also some helpful guides for injury prevention. These tips are all the more important now that we are heading into peak summer time.
- Wrist Pain
Wrist pain is common in rowers, with the return to high-intensity rowing in relatively cold weather. The most common wrist pain condition associated with rowers is known as an Extensor Tendinopathy. This condition is linked with pain in the wrist, swelling, and crepitus (a sense of creaking) with motion of the wrist, and also tenderness on the top of the wrist. It can cause pain with rowing and other activities, such as writing.
Treatment can involve a rest period, followed by specific stretching and strengthening exercises, which your physiotherapist/chiropractor can help guide you through. Additional treatments include a wrist splint to be used at night time (if night pain is an issue), anti-inflammatory medications, ice, or local injections.
Prevention: The key to prevention is keeping the hand and wrist as warm as possible while rowing. Stretching your wrists as shown can help loosen your joints and muscles and help introduce heat to your tissues. Rowers should make sure that they wear long-sleeved shirts and fleece covers that encase the hand, wrist and oar while rowing in cold weather.
2. Rib Pain
Pain along the ribcage is a common complaint among rowers. The vast majority of these injuries are rib stress fractures, which account for 10% of all rowing injuries. The most common site is at the junction of the middle and back 1/3 of the ribcage. Rib stress fractures generally occur during periods of intense training in the winter when rowers spend a significant amount of time on the rowing ergometer – with a low stroke rate and a high load per stroke.
Rib stress fractures typically present with achiness of the chest wall, before progressing to a painful stress fracture. Common symptoms include pain at the chest wall, which worsens with coughing, deep breathing, changing position, and sometimes rolling over in bed. The fracture is so miniscule that it is rarely caught on X-ray and may require a bone scan to confirm its presence, though most medical professionals can detect its presence clinically.
Treatment involves a rest period from rowing, but the person can try cross-training or cycling to maintain their cardiac fitness during their break from rowing. These activities shouldn’t aggravate their fracture. However, running should be avoided as it is an impact activity. As the fracture heals, ergometer training is allowed at a high stroke rate and low resistance with progression to rowing on the water. A physiotherapist can accelerate your recovery by provided specific joint mobilisations and manipulations to improve your movement and speed up your fracture healing. A high calcium and protein diet can improve the speed of fracture healing also.
Prevention largely involves stretching of your thoracic and chest musculature. Here are a few examples. Prevention also includes core and upper back strengthening work as part of the regular training programme.
3. Low Back Pain
This is very common in rowers and has been associated with rowing >30mins and lifting heavy free weights when not rowing. Common symptoms include pain in the low back or into the legs in the case of a disc issue, pain with sitting and pain at the finish of the rowing strokes with the legs straightened. Bending forward may be difficult due to muscle spasm also.
Many rowers with disc problems do very well with conservative management. Flexibility exercises (below) and a core stabilization programme should be started and continued as long as the athlete is rowing – which leads on to a thorough preventative programme. It is important to limit ergometer pieces to 30mins and allow stretching between intervals. Weight lifting should be carefully monitored by your physiotherapist or personal trainer.
4.Knee Pain
Patellofemoral (knee cap) pain generally presents with pain while ascending or descending stairs and a clicking or grinding sensation when rowing. Training activities such as squats or squat jumps will increase the pain.
Treatment conservatively in the first port of call, including stretching of the hip and knee muscles but most importantly strengthening of the weak and inactive muscles of the leg. Your physiotherapist will also be able to provide specific hands-on tissue and muscle work, in order to speed up recovery and reduce muscle tightness. Maintaining this reduction will leads into your personalised prevention programme – which include weekly strengthening of specific muscles and stretching before rowing.
Keep our tips in mind as you enjoy your rowing and keep those injuries away!
If you’re experiencing pains, niggles or any injury call us on 046 9002982 to book an appointment. Our physiotherapists are on hand to help in any way.
Yours in Health,
Body Balance Physiotherapy
Injury Prevention Experts