Recovery time

[acollins]

Well this was going to be my first year where I totally dedicate myself to traditional archery. I have been shooting a lot already. Last week I fell about 10 ft onto concrete at work  Hoped for the best but found out today I have a broken bone in my shoulder and a torn rotater cuff. Doc thinks both will heal on there own without surgery.  my question is how long should I expect it to be before I should be able to get back to shooting. I shoot 45 lbs. I have found a nice Damon howatt mamba at 25lbs. Thinking about getting it to slowly work back in when the time comes

[JAG]

Do what the Dr. says, EXACTLY.  Do the exercises, and therpary, and anythingelse he wants you to do!
Been there and done that.  I had the same thing, minus the broken bone, and the exercises and therpary had me back shooting in a couple months.  By the way I was then shooting 70#.  I now shoot 55-60#.  Mine caught up with me about 2 yrs. after the accident.  So I went back on the program and dropped bow weight, too.  All seems to be good now.
Johnny/JAG

[Converml]

Ouch that's a bummer. Well as hard as it will be take it easy. Do you make your own arrows ect. Could use the time to hone your non shooting skills. Good luck  

[rastaman]

Go to a sports physical therapist or get your doctor to send you to one. They should be able to give you some exercises and give you an idea. Mine took about 4 months. I dropped down to 45lbs and hunted with that for almost two seasons.
Good luck in your recovery!

[acollins]

Yep I am at a sports medicine place. Can't do any exercises or therapy to bone heals. Got several months till deer season just worried if I will have gotten enough practice in to make a clean kill. Maybe I will take the time to build some nice arrows that's not a bad idea.

[mmisciag]

Do exactly what you are told. When the bone heals, the PT folks will get you on the right track. Be consistent with the stuff they ask you to do. If they say its ok, do it when you are not at the PT facility.

Talk to your doctor and PT. Tell them your goals.

Worked for me.

Martin

[Mike Vines]

Yeah, recovery sucks, but the doctor knows best.  I have been horizontal for 2 weeks, and just found out yesterday that I have 2 more weeks of NO weight bearing before I can even think about walking.  Hardest part is knowing there are things that need to be done and not being able to do them.  

If you do what your doctor and PT says to do, you will be back to normal in no time.  You just have to get over the hump then It's all downhill from there.

The last thing you want is surgery so do whatever is necessary to avoid it.  I didn't follow my doctor and PT's advice now I'm paying the price.

[lpcjon2]

You must do as the doctor orders, and be strong and wise.

[FatherOfGnute]

That's a bummer.  I tore up both shoulders in a high speed dismount of the two wheeled variety.

I had no insurance back then and ended up with some permanent damage to my right rotator cuff.

That said, my cousin was a chriropractor that works with the local minor league hockey club - he sees a lot of this stuff.  He gave me some simple exercises using exercise bands - fast forward a couple years and I'm drawing 70 lb compound 50 lb recurve w/ ease.

Hang in there, take it S L O W, stick to the plan - like it's a jail sentence and you will get there!

[lpcjon2]

And one more thing to add, if you are prescribed pain meds be careful they can give you a false feeling of being better. Thats when the damage begins.

[Kentucky Jeff]

The one thing about rotator cuff injuries is they never heal by themselves.  Surgery is usually the only way to fix it.  The good news is most rotator cuff surgeries are now done orthoscopically on an outpatient basis.  Shoulders are the same way.  

Bad news is recover is not fast and you are realistically looking at 6 months.   Its not something you want to push either.  You'll re-injure yourself and be back at square one or worse.

The good news is shooting a bow PROPERLY doesn't require a lot of shoulder or arm muscles.    Back tension is where its at!  You should engage those back muscles for almost all energy you need to draw that string back.

So now you have incentive to work on activating your back muscles.

[KOOK68]

If you aren't interested in that Mamba, I may be interested.