Question
I have just started taking my bronze medallion\cross so I can work in the Waterpark but started having pain in my left shoulder. It starts under the shoulder blade and branches out, stealing my breath if I move my arm a certain way. That shoulder had something similar happen about ten years ago (again while I was swimming) but it went away on its own so I never saw a doctor about it.
Is this a muscle strain or something else? Is there anything I can do if it is? Should I be trying to see my doctor over this? Right now I can't use that arm to swim and I won't pass my course if I can't swim a certain length in a certain time

Answer
Hello, Megan,

If it steals your breath, it's likely not your shoulder, but the muscles between the ribs, underneath.  It's not a muscle "strain"; it's muscular contraction probably triggered by an accident.

For an explanation of how that happens, please see this entry:
http://somatics.com/recovery_from_injury.htm

Stretching won't help because stretching doesn't improve muscular control.

Please see this entry on the "strengthening and stretching" approach, so you understand why:
http://somatics.com/stretch.htm

For me to advise you further with regard to which somatic education exercise will help, I need specific description of the location of the pain and of the movement that triggers it.

For more background on somatic education exercises, please see this entry:
http://somatics.com/SLEx2.htm