Injured shoulder

[frenchbuck]

After 2 years of not shooting my bow, I took down off the rack and figured I should start getting ready for this fall. I hadn't practiced because I havn't hunted in two years. I noticed it was more difficult to draw the bow string however I still had fairly consistant groups. I only practised for about 10 minutes. later in the evening I noticed my sholder getting sore and in the middle of the night I woke up with terrible pain in my right shoulder, I couldn't even lay on that side. The pain is still there but not quite as bad. Do you guys ever do stretching exersice before you shoot? I think maybe I should lay low with the shooting for a few days.

[AK-49]

You should definitely lay off shooting until you figure out what is going on with your shoulder. What is the pull wt of the bow that you are shooting?

[GF.]

I've got two bad rotator cuffs, and I really pissed 'em both off moving the furniture out of my wife's grandpa's condo a couple weeks ago.

If you're really smart, you'll get a referral to a physical therapist who will re-hab the injury you've got and teach you how to do the maintenance so that you don't re-inijure yourself.

If you're not so smart, you'll tough it out and really cause some damage.... Ummm... Like I did.

Yeah, physical therapy costs money, but it's cheaper than physical therapy on top of the surgery you can find yourself in need of if you don't start taking better care of yourself. Besides--life is too short to go through it in a bunch of pain that could otherwise be relieved...

[frenchbuck]

Hi AK-49, I am shooting an older model Hoyt Superslam. I bought it new several years ago and it still shoots like new. I think I've got the draw weight set at 60 pounds. By the way, I'm turning 50 this year. Age is not in my favor.

[AK-49]

here is a good article to look at: http://bowsite.com/bowsite/features/bowdoc/shoulder/index.htm

once you are recovered find a 40 -50 lb bow and start at 40 lb and work your way up the scale...

[ncboman]

Two years ago I somehow pinched a nerve in my neck tryin to keep up with this racehorse I'm married to. I couldn't even pull my heavy bows for a good while (months). :o

I think it's a good idea to have a lower poundage smooth pullin bow reserved for backup, esp as you get 'older'. :D

ncboman

[GF.]

Good article...

Pretty well covers everything that a good physical therapist will do.... Except stand there and make you do it :rolleyes:

If getting into that routine (going real easy at first, and don't forget to ice down afterwards!) and giving yourself a couple weeks to get back to normal doesn't have you feeling pretty good, then go see a doc about it.

Once you're feeling 'good as new' (Hah!), try drawing the bow with a dialed down draw weight. Don't go shooting until you can do multiple sets of maybe 6 reps without feeling it the next day - especially if you have to go somewhere to shoot.

Trouble is, once you're in the "I'm gonna go do some shooting" mindset, you won't quit when you need to. If you're standing in the house doing sets and reps, you won't mind knocking off for the day - especially if you're starting to feel it a little...

Good news is that you have plenty of time to get reconditioned and tune up your shooting before the season - provided that you go about it in a smart fashion....

You can't do this fast. 'Young Guys' think they can, and they end up being 'Old Guys' who can't do squat anymore, because they blew their shot 20 years ago....

[frenchbuck]

AK-49 Thank You very much for that link. It is just the thing I needed to get my shoulder in shape for this fall and target practice. It has alot of very good information.

[nodakker]

I made that same mistake when I first decided to get into bowhunting. I had my new compound bow set at what I thought was reasonable poundage, but shot 50-100arrows/day all summer long that first year to make sure I was ready for the opener, but with nobody to show me the proper technique for drawing the bow. Lo and behold, about a week before the opener I drew back wrong and "pulled something loose" in my shoulder. I quit right away, but the next day I couldn't lift my hand to shoulder height. Not a good situation for a first-year school teacher needing to write on chalkboards.

Luckily I had age on my side, not even close to 30 yet. I made do in the classroom using the bottom half of the chalkboard, and laid off the bow for a week straight. After that week I backed the draw weight down on my bow, and kept my elbow low so I used my back muscles instead of my shoulder to draw the bow. 100% recovery, and I shot a deer with the bow that year.

[StringJumper]

I had an ongoing pain in my shoulder at one time. Very intense pain. I went to the doctopr and he prescribed an over-the-counter anti-inflamatory (Advil). I took this this for 3-weeks and my problem resolved itself.

Lesson learned: don't always assume that you have a condition which requires surgical intervention.

[GF.]

It just depends how badly hurt you are in the first place...

In this case, there was no high-profile 'injury' event (IIRC), just some acute overuse. The thing is, thogh, the proper rehab will get you right and bullet-proof you against a recurtrence. If you just take some time off 'til things cool down, you'll go right back to where you started. maybe you can get by if you start slower or lighter the second time, but there's no such thing as being in 'too good' physical condition (which is not to say thatyou can't do a lot of damage by over-training or by training using poor form).

But the older you get, the less forgiveness there is that's built into the system.

The irritation to my left shoulder from moving all that furniture a couple of weeks ago is not quieting down much at all, despite not having done anything but a very small amount of fishing since then (and it's my reeling hand, not my rod-hand), so I'm starting to get a little concerned about it. Probably just tendinitis, but I think it's been about 3 weeks and not going anywhere good.... :(

[frenchbuck]

I sure got a better response on this than I thought I would and I welcome all the good advice. Just as an update, everything is back to normal and there is no pain but I learned a good lesson. Just to be safe, I will lay off the bow for another week and then crank it down to 45 or 50 pounds and shoot just a few arrows and see how it goes.

[Twanger]

The best policy is to not lay off shooting for long.
I tend to aggravate my shoulders if I do.
A soft-cam helps. Hard cam bows can catch you off-guard near full draw and just about pull your arm off. They are also hard to pull right off the bat, when it puts more stress on your shoulder.

I'm 50 years old and pull a 77lb bow. It's a soft cam bow, and very easy for me to draw, yet after a day of shooting 50-100 arrows I do feel it.

Sometimes i lay off shooting for a few weeks, but then I'm back at it.
If I laid off for two years I'd probably never pull that kind of weight again. Use it or lose it.

I had an odd thing happen last year... I shot my 35lb recurve for the first time in 20 years and the next day I swore I'd demolished my shoulder. Fortunately, after some Advil and laying off for a week I was good to go.

[DaveHawk]

Your shoulder could be telling you that there is a problem. Have you got it checked out yet?

[Twanger]

No, Dave I haven't. You're probably giving me good advice there, but it's down low on the priority list since I can still pull my bow without problems.

[DaveHawk]

Walt do the smart thing get it checked. might be just mussel strain but then again it could be a minor tear which can heal with proper treatment and prolong your ability to shot a vertical bow.

Anyone with shoulder pain should get checked out.

[ncboman]

Walt do the smart thing get it checked. might be just mussel strain but then again it could be a minor tear which can heal with proper treatment and prolong your ability to shot a vertical bow.

Anyone with shoulder pain should get checked out.

I have pain all over but ain't gettin nothin 'checked out' as long as I can still function. :D

ncboman

[Twanger]

Having just turned 50, I've noticed that this doesn't improve with age! :D:p

[Bill Gunn]

Having just turned 50, I've noticed that this doesn't improve with age! :D:p

I'll be 62 next week, trust me, you have nothing to look forward to.

The reason they call it the "Golden Years" is that you take all the gold you saved your entire lifetime and hand it all over to the Doctors.

[DaveHawk]

Good one Bill.

Alan Your a roofer, so you don't count, you fall off roofs and still keep working LOL

[GF.]

Mine have been acting up ever since I moved all that furniture and there are no signs of real improvement. Some nights I can hardly sleep, and some days I can just manage to drive to work without noticing any real pain.....:confused:

Getting discouraging, so I'm maybe due for a visit to somebody other than the Chiro here before long. She does great pain relief type of treatment, but I don;t think she can order any film.

Walking in to the building this morning I started wondering just how many 40+ mph impacts God intended the human body to withstand.....:rolleyes:

[Hi Ball]

Frenchbuck, not to sound like a know it all but I would go see a shoulder specialist first before doing anything with your shoulder.

If you are then cleared to shoot, then I would start with a much lighter bow and work up to high weight pulls down the road (depending on your progress etc) and never continue to try to pull a bow, when you have any pain of funny feeling in that shoulder or back.

Pulling a bow is like going to the gym and lifting weights! First you stretch out and prepare those muscles for the task ahead. Then you warm those muscles up with light pulling first before trying to pull something like 60 lbs in a recurve bow.

Now after a long lay-off from shooting a bow, I always start back with a 25-lb pull bow and work upward before just getting a bow off the wall and letting arrows fly. It generally takes me 3 weeks to get back into the hang of things but nowdays more like 30 days!:)