Dr. says- DO NOT SHOOT THAT BOW

[Autumnarcher]

well, after almost a year of reoccurring chronic elbow pain, I sought out a sports medicine physician to get a 2nd opinion on my elbow problems.

Last summer, probably around june, I started having elbow pain consistent with tendonitis in my bow arm. It got to the point where every time I released the string, the pain in my elbow got worse, to the point it felt like my elbow was coming apart. Rest, ice, etc, exercises, showed little improvement. Went to see the ortho doc that did my shoulder surgery, he gave me a cortisone injection, and within a couple days pain was all but gone. This was late October.

Good to go the rest of archery season, then late November it flared p again while butchering deer, but settled down again in a week or so with rest and motrin.

This winter while building cabinets for my workshop, it began to flare up again. Not as bad, I guess on a 1-10 scale its about a 4-5. But it hurts to shoot. Over the past 10 months, my shooting is all but none. A couple arrows here and there. Not good for a trad archery junkie.

Went to see the doc, and he took xrays of shoulder and elbow. Nothing much there, ordered MRI and ultrasound therapy. He said being that its not my dominant arm( Im a lefty, r elbow hurts) its likely not tendonitis, but better chance there is a partial tear of one of the muscles facia or the tendon.

He asked if I wanted a crossbow prescription- to which he didnt much like my answer. I told him being seen with one of those would rate right up there with being seen naked with another man. No, I'll pass on that thank you.

So, Im hoping beyond hope that the PT helps. In the meantime, he said it needs rest( how much more does it need for cryin out loud). I have an elk hunt to prep for, and need to be shooting.

Im gonna continue to not touch my bow till Pt is done, and see what the MRI shows. Surgery would put an end to my hunt Im sure, and very well may end my trad shooting all together. Needless to say, Im pretty worried.

These white coats dont seem to undertand that trad archers have for the sport. I tried to explain it to him, but he didnt want to hear it.
It bugs me to no end that they can just tell you , well sometimes you just have to find something else to do. Really? Bowhunting and traditional archery isnt something I do, its what I am.

Worse case scenario if I absolutely HAVE to, I could hold my nose and hunt with wheels this year. But.......man thats a tough pill for me to even think about swallowing right now.

[Bow Bum]

I feel for you man!

I had similar pain in my bow elbow too. Not sure if its the same problem or not.

I started shooting trad again this winter after another year with wheels. Shooting wheels hurt the heck out of that elbow too.

Had a guy at work turn me on to a kettlebell work out. That and a fair amount of stretching, and my elbow pain is alot better. Last fall at the peak of my wheel bow shooting I could not straighten my left arm because it hurt my elbow.

Find a good doc to work with and stay the course. A good doc should be able to work with you. Provided your insurance will let you have a good doc. Mine won't. So I have to self medicate with my own stretching and kettlebells.

Good luck!

Brian

[Spectre]

Can you simply go way down on draw weight? Maybe some kind of elbow brace to help absorb any shock to your bow arm?

 That is the pits, man, surely there is some sort of answer for you out there somewhere.

[Friend]

Sorry - Poor scenario!

Just some thoughts.

Possibly go down in draw wt and try drawing and shooting with a little more bend in your bow arm.

Possibly consider trying shooting a left handed bow and giving it a worthy effort.

[Autumnarcher]

Spectre, I cant drop weight, Im shooting around 55 and I dont want to go less for elk. Deer, sure, but not elk. I wear an arm band when I do shoot, which helps a lot.

From what he explained to me, the 'power grip" used when holding a bow- the cant of your arm etc puts a lot of pressure on the muscles and tendons in the forearm. Im not talking a hard squeeze grip, but the way we hold the bow.
It causes the muscles in the forearm to contract when loaded, and the muscles around the elbow and just above to stretch. On release, they snap back. With my workouts in prep for the hunt, I know Im strengthening those muscles. But if the tendon is partially torn, it wont heal without rest. Kind of a catch-22. I just gotta be patient at this point.

Fortunately, Ive shot for long enough that my aim is still pretty good, so I dont have to shoot a lot of arrows to prep, just a few quality ones. Once I get in the mountains, I only need 1 shot. But we all know practice build confidence, and removes doubt. When doubt creeps in, accuracy suffers. Thats what concerns me.

At least I know the very few shots I do take are right in there.

[Autumnarcher]

Friend, I am a lefty- I tried shooting right handed, it hurts worse drawing with the right arm.

[Spectre]

Originally posted by Autumnarcher:
Spectre, I cant drop weight, Im shooting around 55 and I dont want to go less for elk. Deer, sure, but not elk. I wear an arm band when I do shoot, which helps a lot.

From what he explained to me, the 'power grip" used when holding a bow- the cant of your arm etc puts a lot of pressure on the muscles and tendons in the forearm. Im not talking a hard squeeze grip, but the way we hold the bow.
It causes the muscles in the forearm to contract when loaded, and the muscles around the elbow and just above to stretch. On release, they snap back. With my workouts in prep for the hunt, I know Im strengthening those muscles. But if the tendon is partially torn, it wont heal without rest. Kind of a catch-22. I just gotta be patient at this point.

Fortunately, Ive shot for long enough that my aim is still pretty good, so I dont have to shoot a lot of arrows to prep, just a few quality ones. Once I get in the mountains, I only need 1 shot. But we all know practice build confidence, and removes doubt. When doubt creeps in, accuracy suffers. Thats what concerns me.

At least I know the very few shots I do take are right in there.

Dood, the old timers had no problem hunting big stuff with a 40#er and a sharp broadhead. Some of these "modern" traditional bows shoot mighty fine at these lower weights, just design an arrow for yourself.

[moebow]

From what he explained to me, the 'power grip" used when holding a bow- the cant of your arm etc puts a lot of pressure on the muscles and tendons in the forearm. Im not talking a hard squeeze grip, but the way we hold the bow.
It causes the muscles in the forearm to contract when loaded, and the muscles around the elbow and just above to stretch. On release, they snap back. With my workouts in prep for the hunt, I know Im strengthening those muscles. But if the tendon is partially torn, it wont heal without rest. Kind of a catch-22. I just gotta be patient at this point.

Autumnarcher,  I feel for your pain and dilemma.
Can you find a good archery coach????  The reason I pasted your comments about the forearm is that if you have tension in the bow arm forearm you are doing it incorrectly.  If you can correctly establish bone on bone support in that arm there should be zero/zip/nadda tension (or at least VERY little) in your forearm.  It may be worht looking into for you.

FWIW.

[Autumnarcher]

I shoot with a pretty heavy cant to my bow, Im working on reducing that quite a bit and see how that feels, but for now no shooting.

[critter69]

I had a pain in my elbow a few years ago to the point I could hardly move my arm.I went to a doctor and they had this new thing they tried. I cant remember the name of the procedure. But it looked like a dentist lamp but were the light bulb would be it was more like a rubber ball. When he would apply it to my elbow it felt like my arm was going to blow apart. But after a few weeks of this I have not had problems sence.I also had seperated my tendion from the bone.You might ask a doc about it.I wish I could remember the name.Good luck

[Red Beastmaster]

I was having a tendonitis problem with my bow arm elbow. It would flare up from time to time, especially when I spent a lot of time shooting a D-shaped longbow. I guess it was the hand shock that aggrevated it. At it's worst I couldn't even lift a cup of coffee.

I wore a wrap with one of those little air pillow pressure thingys and only shot my recurves sparingly. In a few weeks it let up.

I have since dropped draw wt on all my bows and have not had a reoccurance in about 3 years.

[EL Mejor]

GOOD LUCK,AND GET BETTER,,,IF U SHOOT OR WHEN U SHOOT LIMIT UR ARROWS,,,MAKE ALL UR SHOOTS QUALITY SHOOTS,SO THAT WHEN UR HUNT COMES AROUND YOU'LL BE READY...EVEN IF YOU STILL HAVE SOME DISCOMFORT...

[crotch horn]

Do you have a trad bow that you can put a stabilizer on? That may soak up some of the shock until it is feeling better. Just a thought. Wish you well.

[JDunlap]

Stay with the PT and doing strengthening exercises. Every time I have had a problem like that whether it was back or knee or whatever, I would let it rest and then try to find the right exercise that would strengthen that area. Have had some remarkable improvements.

[LKH]

I'm recovering from my second surgery to my left shoulder and it's not going well.  I think there is a good chance that I may be done with a longbow and it's a tough pill to swallow.

If I could stand (painwise) to pull and shoot a compound, that will be my second choice.  Last will be a crossbow.

I figure at my age and with the time I've shot trad, switching won't be fun and a bitter pill to swallow, but I'd rather switch than give up hunting.  

I think you will have to consider what's more important.  For me it's being out there hunting.

[Whip]

Do you still shoot a longbow John?  I wonder if a recurve might be different?  It changes the hand placement on the bow, and might just help take some of that tension off that he was talking about.  But of course, rest and PT for now is the best course of action.  You still have plenty of time to get this back in shape for your hunt.

[Sixby]

I would suggest that you get a well designed static recurve. Of course I will reccomend my Talon 11 ., I would also reccomend RER, Druid, Sasquatch, QuikStyk ect. You will get a more even draw force curve. I just got one from another bowyer, Kirk Lavender who makes Sasquatch that is just an awsome bow. It pulls as good as mine, Is quick and shock free and he is a sponser here as are most of these others. If I have left out anyone building statics or reccomended someone that is not making them then please forgive me. I know however that a longer static recurve like a 62 to 64 inch is like pulling butter. They are just unbelieveable.
God Bless and good luck with the arm. Steve

[Beanbag]

Autumnarcher, Crazy as it sounds try glucosomine/condrotine (spl)? viatamins.I had bad joint pain a few years back,started with that  and it keeps me ok. if I stop taking it I'm good for a month or two . Maybe all in my haed though.JG

[rdoggsilva]

Do not worry about dropping bow weight for elk. Three years ago I took a spike bull with a 47# Pearson Hunter. To keep shooting you may have to drop bow weight. Good luck with your PT and God bless.

[duncan idaho]

Just some more information: stay with your PT until you have completed the process. A lot of elbow/shoulder injuries mirror injuries to baseball pitchers, torn cuffs, sprains, tennis elbow, tommy john surgery, etc...the strength and conditioning programs used by them to rehab is excellent for recovering archers. there are several maintenance programs available on the web. There are several PT'S on this site and I am sure they could recommend some good training/maintenance programs. I would also check with "RAGING WATERS" here on the site, I believe he trains for heavy bows and would have some fitness/ training advise. Good Luck.