Question for those that have had shoulder issues...

[dragonheart]

A year ago my shoulder hurt worse than it does now, and I went to a ortho sports doc.  He said I had bursitis and injected the shoulder with cortozone.  This last year I shot less arrows and even shot that other type of bow for awhile to rest the shoulder.  It helped.

I love shooting trad bows.  I am going to give shooting LH a chance to give it a rest.  I am also going to call a friend of the family that is a PT and see what I need to do to get evaluated by him.

I am a bit spooked of the cortozone, and really was resistant last year when he injected me.

I know what many of you are saying.  The bow has contributed to the problem, but when I really think about it, there are other times that the right shoulder has been abused.  I appreciate the support.

[NoCams]

Go to a good PT or doc for sure and make certain what you are dealing with. I went to a friend of mine who is a PT and he suspected tendonitis of the AC joint and especially bicep tendonitis. Took him about 5 minutes of rolling my arm and shoulder around into different positions to know for sure where and what hurt the most.

He told me to ice three times a day, take all the Aleve I could take religiously and come back in three weeks. He also told me NOT to come back if I was not going to do what he told me ! Most folks just do not do what their PT or doc tells them to do. It is hard to stop and ice a shoulder three times a day for 15-20 minutes but it is truly amazing what it does ! My PT told me, " Why do you think those million dollar major league pitchers use ice like they do ? " He has a great point guys, ice works like you would not believe IF you do it 3 times a day 15-20 minutes like you should.

I also took my pills right on schedule and the combo of rest, ice, and anti immflamatory meds had me feeling 100 % better in 2 weeks ! After two months of careful care and not over shooting I had whipped my severe immflamation of my bicep tendonitis and was shooting and sleeping better than ever. My PT explained to me how tendonitis feeds upon itself. When you have tendons in the shoulder area all touching each other and get one inflamed the swollen tendon then rubs the others around it and so on and so on. It just gets worse and worse and you HAVE to get rid of the immflamation pronto.

If this would not have helped me then my PT would then have suggested a cortizone shot, a atom bomb for immflamation according to him. If that didn't work then he would then have sent me to a doc for a MRI and possible surgery. Sure glad I listened and did what he told me and healed myself with simple rest, ice, and Aleve.

nocams

[The Night Stalker]

I do not recommend cortizone,it has detremental affect on you cartilage over time and multiple injections. You really need to go see a shoulder specialist at a major medical center. I help fix shoulders for a living and there is a big difference in operating technique among surgeons. First thing is MRI and determine what you are dealing with. Mabe a PT consult or staight to surgery. Some tears are not noticed by MRI. Diagnostic arthroscopy with repair usually follows.

[BigArcher]

I had shoulder problems in the past that effected my shooting.  Biggest thing I did to help that is make sure I warm up the shoulder and shooting muscles before practicing.  
Not just swinging the arms a couple of times but working the shoulders until they were warm and flexability increased.

Presently I am comming back from a rotator cuff repair.  I knew immediately when I did it.  Couldn't lift my arm to the side and could not draw my bow.  The repair was done in January and it is still not 100%.  I do shoulder warmups every morning now.  With work, archery and a grandson, you never know when the shoulders are going to be called into action.  So, keep them strong and flexible as best as you can.

BigArcher

[cahaba]

My right shoulder used to hurt badly,especially when I would shoot my bow. MRI did not show any tears. My orthopedic did surgery. I think it was called arthroscopic. He went in in six places on my shoulder. My shoulder has felt great ever since. He said I had some spurs. Very short recovery time and well worth doing the surgery.