Can swimming cause hand pain?

I've been swimming 4 days a week now for about 3 years or so, however over the past few weeks I have started to notice I have a dull throbbing pain in the back of my hands, more the left hand than the right. It also sometimes affects my fingers but mostly the pain I experience in the back of my hand is similar to the feeling you get if you press on a bruise.

I am a very good swimmer and do 50 minutes worth of breast stroke at a high intensity.

Is it possible that swimming is causing the hand pain?

Reply 1

Kyri

Seeing as you're a good swimmer and you swim regularly at high intensity, this kind of thing sounds a bit like an overuse injury. It may also have something to do with technique. Perhaps you're curling your wrists a lot when pulling. Can't say for sure it's due to swimming, but yes, it's possible.

To make a comparison, I weight lift a lot and have had my fair share of overuse injuries over the years and it's a matter of stopping the action that causes pain, until the pain goes away. You may have to change some kind of technique, swim with a different stroke, or swim less frequently for a while.

Reply 2

Kallisto

Entertainment Forum Helper

I remember that I have had bad pains in my hands and everywhere on my whole body. It was so bad that even lying in bed hurt. It is not a good idea at all to swim three hours non-stop. :no:

Reply 3

CoolCavy

Volunteer Team

Yes definitely, I haven't been swimming for a while but when I used to go a lot I would sometimes get pain in my wrist. If you are overflexing your palms when you do the stroke I could see it causing hand pain.