How long to heal a hurt shoulder?

[kawika b]

I'm gonna get checked out by the Doc ,,, eventually,,, but I was hoping the guys here who have had a history of bad shoulders could let me know thru personal experience,,, How long did it take for you to get back into shooting shape?

[gatorgar]

Took me alittle over a month before I could even think of picking up a bow after I dislocated my shoulder earier this year.  I picked up a kids bow (lil indian) to start of with and slowly moved up to hunting weight.  Best thing you can do is listen to your Doc.  Alittle patience right now can keep you from alot of heartache later on.

[BAK]

Had surgery which took about 5 months to get back to full speed, or at least close enough to be able to hunt again.

[kctreeman]

I was shooting about two months after my first operation.  Of course that was too soon and I ripped it up real good.  I let the second one heal and rehab for about 6 months before shooting light weight bows.  I was good to go after about 9 months.  The shoulder still had pain for about a year after the operation.  Feels great now.  Good luck with the rehab.  Take it slow.

[kawika b]

Thanks guys. I hope my pain is nothing significant.

[kctreeman]

If it's a rotator cuff, you need to get an MRI.  X-rays won't show a tear in the muscle tissue.

[kawika b]

feels like the joint where there's that bump at the top of your shoulder.

[Shakes.602]

Dont Make It Worse By Ignoring The Pain!!  

   Pain is Your Body Communicating and saying:   YO!!  "Houston We Have A Problem!!!"  

[kawika b]

i know what ya means shakes,,, i just get a little "hard of hearin" when i'm havin fun shootin. i'll get it checked out.

[hs6181]

Ive had surgury on both shoulders over the last 10 years and had to drop a total of 15#s.

each time I took from 3 to 6 months to get back to a hunting weight.

its happening again, I recently bought and then had to sell a bow I'd been lookn for a long time, because right after I got the bow I pulled my shoulder trying to help out my bro.

whatever you do, dont take meds and try to shoot through the pain, you'll never be the same if you do.

I'm playing with a 35# martian hawk longbow right now with a few short draw shots from my 55#r.

I'm thinkn bout gettin that 49#@29" mosshorn in the classifieds.

[2manyslickheads]

Had pain for a year and finally had shoulder decompression surgery. Could not shoot a bow for five months. That was almost three years ago and if it is cold enough sitting on stand it will still ache pretty bad.

Martin

[ChristopherO]

Two dirt bike spills 20 years apart on the same shoulder made me think I was not going to be able to use it when I get older.  All the popping, cracking and soreness was getting to me.  My solution last spring was to pick up and dust off the Martin Pioneer I hadn't shot in 10 years to see if I could strengthen it up.  The 50# bow was a struggle at first but eventually the muscles built up enough that I don't even think about my shoulder much, now.  Maybe a lighter bow would have worked but this was what I had at the time.

[Tom A]

First time with pain in my bow arm shoulder the doctor gave me some work outs with a large rubber band. It was better within 3 weeks. The second time my drawing shoulder started poping everytime I draw. Doctor said it was stretched ligaments and there was no good cure. Since then I have got smart and dropped poundage to 40-44# bows and have no more issues other than a pop every now and then.

[James Wrenn]

I hurt mine almost a year ago and have got to the point I can't hunt with my longbows this season.The Doc says it was just tendonitis and gave me the shots that lasted about a week.Now he has to do a MRI and find out what it really is.It sucks big time and I am only shooting a wheelbow a little right now.I can't even shoot a 40lb longbow over a couple of shots.Getting old and worn out is for the birds!  :(

[kawika b]

Where did your guys pain originate from?

[CheeseHead]

Originally posted by kawika b:
feels like the joint where there's that bump at the top of your shoulder.

Yep, I've got that exact same pain.  I've been trying to ignore it and hoping it will get better by taking some time off.  If you go to the doctor, let me know what he says.  That way I don't have to go.    

[Shawn Leonard]

kawika, it sounds like you have some bone sprs and some arthritis in there as your symptoms sound similar to mine, I also had tear in my labrum. I had surgeru July 13th. and they removed 12 spurs and lots of arthritis and old scar tissue and also cleaned up the labrum. I was shooting in 5 weeks from the surgery and was able to shoot 45-50#s with not much problem. Doc told me 2 months, but after an exam and an MRI 4 weeks after the surgery he said, "man you heal like no one I have ever seen and told me to go ahead an do whatever I felt like within reason. Go see a doc brother!! Do not put it off, I did and suffered for a long time. Ya may just need rest for a couple weeks or it could be something more serious, for you and yours get checked out! Shawn

[kawika b]

Surgery,,, man I was hoping to avoid that. Thanks for the heads up though Shawn. I've read countless posts about you mentioning your bad shoulder,,, I will get checked out soon. Wanna get this done soon.

[hickstick]

that little bump on top of the shoulder joint (if i read you right) is the acromium,  small bone that extends from the clavicle to form sort of the top of the 'socket' (its not really a socket).  thats where 'separations' occur-the union of the acromium and the clavicle. if the pain is closer down towards the tip of the shoulder (the top of the humorus)...it could be a lot of things.

I partially tore my rotator cuff and completely torn my labrum in april playing ice hockey.  cortisone injection and 6 weeks of pt help me avoid surgery.  but the tear in the labrum never heals (its cartiladge with very little blood flow), but the PT helps to strengthen the muscles around the joint to keep everything in line.

the funniest thing about the whole injury was..it wasn't the first time!  one ortho took one look at my naked shoulders and pointed at the acromium and said you've separated your shoulders before, right?   duh, I dunno...XRAYS and MRIs later...yup, arthritis forming in my clavical-acromium region.  oh and by the way, you've got a torn rotator cuff, and and SLAP tear....sent me to a surgeon.  

the surgeon took about a 20 second look at my MRI..."well the labral tear has been there for years, the rotator cuff looks new."  huh?  what happend was my shoulder subluxed (partial dislocation...which torn the rotator cuff) because the labrum wasn't there to hold it in place, when it subluxed a flap from the tear went down inside the joint not allowing it to pop back into place. (it popped back in 2 days later when I rolled over in bed....man did that feel good).  then he smiled and said, "you finished the game, didn't you?"   ah....yup, it was the playoffs     "hockey players!"

said since the tear in the labrum had been there for years and I'd been getting along normally all that time...no need to repair it surgically.  just gotta get the shoulder strengthened back to where it was.

long story short...GO SEE A DOCTOR!....you never really know what it is until the poke around.

I took about a month off from shooting, but when I started back up again in June, I found absolutely no pain/stiffness etc.  seems that most of my shoulder strength was in that lateral pulling direction anyway...gee, I wonder why?

[kawika b]

Marc,,, thanks for scaring me! OKAY GUYS! I get the picture,,, I'm going on my next day off (next Tuesday). Please keep me in your prayers so I don't go insane from looking at my two bows that I'm not supposed to shoot,LOL     Man I really hope I caught this early. I'm pretty sure it ain't all archery related,,, years of boxing and BJJ has worn me down some too. On the bright side,,, I now have the time to read the latest TBM,,, Maui gets them late.