Rotator cuff MRI this morning

[JDunlap]

MRI showed a small tear and some minor bone spurs in my shoulder. It has healed enough over the last several months (w/out surgery) that I can lift my arm in any direction with no pain, and I can shoot my bow without pain. However, when I sit down and lean slightly forward it begins to ache terribly and there is nerve radiation all the way down to my thumb and index finger. Has anyone experienced these symptoms?

[Razorbak]

I had a 2 SLAP done (had to go back and redo it after hardware broke)and its been 11 months and Im starting to get strength back and able to shoot but some days its tough..got at least another year before full strength returns so i hope it isnt to bad for you and a speedy recovery

[threeunder]

My symptoms were a constant fairly dull pain that was either right around the shoulder blade or ran down the top of my shoulder into my arm.
The most devastating part occurred everynight.  When I would lay down, it was almost as if I would have spasms in my rotator cuff.  This pain was on the verge of being unbearable at times.
I would also have a non-specific "phantom" like pain that would happen frequently anywhere from my elbow up to my shoulder.
Also, I had very little range of motion in my shoulder.  Couldn't raise it above my head without excruciating pain.
Eventually, due to my favoring that arm, I lost what I would estimate to be 50% to 75% of the use of my arm.
Ken

[AkDan]

I have a semi tear.   I never did get surgery and now my job with that kind of recover wont allow it unless I fully tear it.


There's 4 'cuffs' there depending on what one you tear will dictate what you can/cant do.  If I shoot for a long period of time I can feel it but it doesnt hurt.    A little bit of weight lifting excercises I have to be careful on.   My job can get interesting.  Turning valves in a power plant depending on what one it is, I can really feel it, its always the hard to reach, gotta get in a goofy position to turn one that gets ya lol.

Your body will tell you what you can/cant do.  

I've been warned about scar tissue.  Ie if I decide to get cut later....it will be much worse than if I did it back than.  It's been 2 years now since I got my partial tear.

[AkDan]

bjorn,

never thoguht to consult my chiropractor (another bike injury that has haunted me since my early teens)....I'll have to do that, thanks for that advice!


I think it was about 2 months before I could really move my arm much....I couldnt hold a water bottle out to my side after 2 months, by the 4th month I finally went in.  My doc gave me the option.  He also said to give it a year.

I can right now, push on one spot, about where a gun but would be, and feel it.   Still trying to keep from getting cut!

[K.S.TRAPPER]

In 08 I had a catwalk callapse at work and I had a bad fall. Really screwed up my shoulder and hip/leg and had several surgerys but only one two the shoulder.

When they got in there I had a 98% tear of my bicep and several other tears in the 80%, Torn rotator, Slap tear, heck I cant even remember all of it there was so much.

I saw the best sports doctor I could get and shoulders were his speacialty. The surgery sucked the rehab sucked it was one painful event but very much worth it because I love bowhunting. They used 7 different anchors/pins to pull all the muscles back up and attach them to the shoulder but I did everything they told me to do including all the rehab then continued it at home. It's hard to not grab the bow and give her a pull but as much as I went through there was no way I was going to screw it up.

Surgery was in June and I was bowhunting by November 1st, I worked my way up from kids bows to hunting wieght. The shoulder continued to hurt for almost two years then one day while I was training for a Triathlon I noticed the pain was gone and has never come back since. I have no pain at all and full use of that shoulder and it feels nice and tight like when I was young.

I know this is just one story but they can be fixed and I wish you luck. By the way I have three good Tradgang friends that are fighting bad shoulders and dropping down on wieght and has helped them.

Tracy

[Shortlongbow]

I had an MRI on my right shoulder last week. Going back to see the doc about it on the 30 th. both of my shoulders give me a lil trouble from time to time due to old injuries. Mainly when I shoot a lot. I'm hoping surgery isn't indicated but we'll see.

One thing I found that has really helped me is doing stretches and rotator cuff exercises. It has really made a big difference. Google shoulder pain and injuries for archers and find the article by Dr Lefler. If you have an injury it might not be relevant but for anyone looking to strengthen your shoulders I think it's good preventative advice. The PT that evaluated me said to keep up the stretching and exercises  till we get it all figured out. Shooting a lighter bow a few times after stretching before shooting the heavier sticks has helped me. Take care of those shoulders! I told my doc that not shooting was not an option. He asked if I have considered a compound. Told him that wasn't an option either at this point. I might have to ease back on weight though. My main concern is not to make things worse by degrading these old shoulders! Good luck to all!

[Bowwild]

Mine turned out better than expected. MRI in December 2008 indicated I had a "less than 50% tear". The doctor advised band exercises (very light) to avoid surgery (I was 55 then). I did three types of stretch band exerices, 3 times per day and one 2-3# weigh exercise all demonstrated by the ortho doc.

I didn't think this was going to work. It just didn't seem aggressive enough to matter? The shoulder (drawing arm)hurt all the time and even more after doing the exercises.  Then, like magic one morning late in July (nearly 7 months after I started exercising). The pain was 100% gone! It has never returned. I was allowed to shoot 2 arrows from a youth bow once about every 3-4 weeks during this time (I needed to do that as part of my job training teachers - shoot 2 and drop one).

Never did figure out exactly how I hurt the shoulder. I was trying to switch from compounds to a recurve the winter of 2009. I was shooting a 53# recurve which is about 5# heavier than I itended to shoot. I was also doing a home wainscoting project and carrying a lot of very long lumber on that shoulder up and down a hill from my driveway into the walk-out. I think the lumber carrying did the damage because that's when I noticed it hurting.

The episode delayed my return to the hunting fields with recurves until the 2010 season.

[Mojostick]

I haven't gotten any results yet, but I haven't shot a bow in 5-6 days and the pain is almost gone.
Maybe I'll get lucky and it's just a bad inflamation and taking it easy/physical therapy/shot might be the ticket. I can only hope.

[Duker]

Best of luck and a speedy recovery  

[Covey]

I had a MRI about two months ago. I have a slight tear in my rotator cuff, arthritis and impingment (I think that's what it's called). I pretty much refuse to have surgery without ruling out every other option. I've actually had a doctor tell me to make surgery my last option because surgery is an injury in itself. Youtube has alot of shoulder excercise video's and I've been going to the chiropractor and he said to do excercises to strengthen the stabilizing muscle's in your shoulder's with weight no more than 2 to 5 pounds. Light weight resistance bands work great! Hope everything goes well for all of us  broke down dudes that love to shoot traditional bows.    

Jason