Rehab after shoulder surgery..... What's been your experience?

[Yankee Bill]

Hi Folks,

Well, I haven't posted here in a yr. or so, but I've been out of Bowhunting / shooting for the last 7 yrs due to a Rotator Cuff injury and sure have missed it.

I'm self-employed and after having several bad experiences w/ Health Insurance companies         I was finally able to secure some decent Insurance which was able to cover a Arthroscopic Shoulder Surgery for me.

In my Drawing / string shoulder, I had a partial tear in one of my Tendons in which they removed the freyed tissue, they totally removed my Bursa, and removed some bone material / spurs that was causing Impingment Syndrome.

Anyway, I'm 6 weeks post-Op today and am feeling pretty good overall, except for some pain in some areas that my Surgeon says is normal at this stage.

I leave Physical Therapy Tomorrow and transition to a home Therapy program. The Physical Terrorist had recently started me on some Weight training which was causing me some pain and the Doc told me that I have good strength in my arm right now and full range of motion, and to hold off w/ the weight training for another 8 weeks until my next visit w/ him. Just continue w/ resistance training i.e. Thera-Bands, stretching etc..

I'm not even going to try to pull a bow until I see what the Doc says next visit.

He said I should not have any problem returning to shooting Traditional Bows again        
So I'm just going to go about it slowly and try  not to mess up my recovery.

My hunting Recurve is 55# but I picked up a couple of lighter bows to rehab with when the time is right.

I was wondering how long it was before some of you who may have had similar surgeries were actually back to shooting your normal weight Bows?

Sorry for being so long winded, I'm just excited to find out that I am actually going to be able to get back into Trad archery, when I really wasn't sure if that was ever going to happen.
Thanks for listening.

Best Wishes,

YB

[Ray Johnson]

I had surgery to repair a torn pectoralis major tendon last August.I was down about 6 weeks.It was supposed to be longet but I started shooting my 46# bow around October 1st.I couldn't stand to be out of the woods.I had to be careful and wasn't really fully healed until February.
                                 Ray

[TJ Jones]

I haven't had shoulder surgery, but I did have a bad shoulder injury some years ago. Fell over backwards landing on my left elbow driving the shoulder forward. Luckily nothing was torn. Dr. said it was probably the strength from shooting archery that probably prevented it from being more serious. I spent about 4 months in rehab. Wasn't able to shoot traditional for several years due to the stress and shock. Shot compound for several years and am now back to shooting traditional. I try to keep up on shoulder exercises to keep the shoulder strong. Otherwise it starts feeling loose. I wish you the best of luck in your rehab. Your right in trying to rush progress to fast and risk reinjury. I think if you maintain your rehab and exercises you will recover to shoot again. Take care and stick with it.

[Yankee Bill]

Thanks for the replies guy's, appreciate the encouraging words.

I'm really going to nurse this one along slowly and try to avoid any complications.

I had a Disc removed from my back a few yrs. ago and didn't take my rehab seriously, and have been paying for that mistake ever since. Don't want to go there again.

The good part about rehab is I had a good "excuse" to get some lighter bows to play with. I picked up an el-cheapo 40# Samick and a Sweet 45# MOAB for "Theraputic" reasons, of course. I'm looking for a cheapie 35# recurve to start back with now.

Seeing as my Tendon was only torn less than 50% of its thickness, the Doc says my rehab won't be as extensive as it would have been if the tear had been greater than 50%. Which was great news for me.

I'm even thinking of having a set of 50# limbs made for my 55# hunting recurve and droping down permenantly. That's still plenty of weight for Whitetails, and I'll probably feel better physcologically about not reinjuring myself shooting a little lower weight.

Thanks again for the encouragement Fella's.

YB

[dudley152]

I had shoulder surgery similar to yours in May, 2005. I was shooting low poundage recurves by August BUT only after weeks of physical therapy. I really didn't feel comfortable shooting my regular recurves until around March, 2006. Give it time and stick to your therapy & you'll be back shooting your regular recurves before you know it.

[Yankee Bill]

Hi Dudley152,

Appreciate the info. What weight did you start back with on the lower poundage bows when you first started shooting again?

I was thinking of trying about 35# to start back with because my next lightest bow is 40# and I'd like to try working back up in 5# increments. I may drop down to 30# to start back though, I'll just wait to see how I feel at that time.

I've got a really good Doc, but he's not a Bowhunter or Archer, so I get the feeling that he doesn't really grasp the draw weight thing all that well when I talk to him about poundage.

Thanks,

YB

[vermonster13]

Tell your PT what you are doing and you can save a lot of bow money. They can target the muscle groups you need to work on to build up to your bow weight. Took me about 8 weeks after surgery and it was a lot better than before and I gained some draw length. Now I just need to get the other shoulder done someday.

[Yankee Bill]

Thanks for the info Vermonster.

I see the PT for the last time in the A.M. to set up my home therapy program. He's aware of my rehab goals so hopefully I may not have to buy anymore bows. I just wanted to make sure I was starting out light enough to redevelop my form as well, it's been 7 yrs. since I've shot a Bow.

He's not overly familiar w/ Archery but I think he pretty much knows what muscle groups we use, so that should work out fine.

What type of Surgery did you have on your Shoulder?

Thanks,

YB

[vermonster13]

Bone spurs removed and a rotator tear repaired. Have bone spurs in my other shoulder that need to come out oneday also I am told.

[Yankee Bill]

I wish you luck with your other shoulder, hope it holds up for a while for you.

[Mic']

...Been put back together a few times here...
Best recovery I ever made was taking things slow but steady, after nerve repair and bone graft to my left arm back in 89'...
took on leather working for building hand power n walked everyday... other muscles had become lax.
  Hope you recover well there YANKEE BILL
Pain is something we have to deal with more as we age... least that it is how it works for me.
  Remember the back muscles be very important in bowhunting... shoot well all

[vermonster13]

No tears in that one. Actually I went in because that one hurt and the one they did surgery on didn't bother me but the x-rays showed it as much worse. The muscle tone from shooting and other things covered for it. Now neither really bothers me most of the time.

[Yankee Bill]

Glad to hear you're feeling O.K. now Vermonster.

Hi Mic',

And thanks for the kind words. I know what ya mean, I tore this shoulder up in 2000 and been living w/ it since. I just kinda got used to moving it around in ways that were less painful than others, and avoiding certain movements altogather.

I'm getting ready to hit that "half Centry" mark myself and can notice a difference in healing time as well. Ditto on the back muscles, for me, they are always the first to go when I pull a muscle.

I've been checking out some gyms here this week, and when the Doc gives me the go ahead to start weight training I'll be joining one and giving this ole bod a good going over.

Thanks again,

YB

[RickD]

Its been 3 months since I started rehab with a Sports Medicine Doctor,my other option was surgery..I have multiple problems and all are doing fine now..I had two small rips in my trapezius muscle,one near my neck the other closer to my shoulder couple that with a torn rotator cuff and arthritis equals I was a mess.Mostly with back and neck exercises I`ve been able to avoid surgery and yesterday was my first time shooting a bow..I`m dropping my maucho pride and staying with light poundage bows..Biggest thing you can do is listen to your Doctor and have patience..I`m shooting twice a day 20 arrows and even that strains me a tad..

..

[heydeerman]

I broke my left shoulder in a motorcycle accident last july. I'm still not right but no surgery and am able to shoot but not for long. My advice would be to not rush it. I did some stuff that set me back and wished I hadnt.

[Bill Carlsen]

Had both shoulders done, the right one twice. The doc  told me beforehand that the most important thing was not what he was going to do surgically but what I did afterwards...do the therapy, stay in shape and keep stretching. The PT is your best friend. I am surprised you weren't doing so sort of therapy within a week of  your surgery....seems like they are taking a lot of time getting you back to normal. Nevertheless, if you do what they say you should be hunting again this Fall. Good luck and do the work.

[NightHawk]

going through it now  :(   Tried to shoot my bow today. Hurt like heck, dropped down to a 35 pound bow and did okay but still had pain     Probably rushing it to much, but want to be able to shoot the classic

[Yankee Bill]

Bill Carlsen: Hi Bill and thanks for the reply!
In ref. to rehab, they did start me in rehab 5 days after my Surgery and I continued w/ formal rehab for 5 weeks. Then, just recently, my Dr. released me to a home therapy program where he told me to lay off weight training for the next 8 weeks, just do my streaching, isometrics and Thera-band exercises etc.. He said my strength was good in that arm for now and didn't want me to rush it.

I was a little concerned because I still have quite a bit of pain in the joint in the outer top part of the shoulder when I move certain ways, and it feels similar to the pain associated w/ the Impingement Syndrome prior to my Surgery. But my Doc says that's normal pain from the surgery, and that some folks heal faster than others. I hope he's right :-)
I hope to be shooting again this Summer, but I'll wait til next summer if I have to just to get it right this time.

Hi NightHawk, and thanks for the reply as well.

All I can say is that you are a braver man than I for returning to the Bow so soon.

I wish you all the best for a full and speedy recovery.

YB