Mountain Cur

Ouch, I' m writing this to get input from any of you guys that may have had the same injury. Opening morning here in Louisiana and I climbed a little bit higher than I should have, There was a limb in my way for shooting standing, but not sitting. I hunt from an Ol' Man climber, and have only shot deer standing, not while sitting. So as the morning wore on I decided to draw my bow while sitting to check all the angles, string clearance, bow limbs, etc.. while doing this I was at full draw for quite some time and moving my bow arm all around. Well I wound up hurting my bow-arm shoulder real bad, right at the front top portion. I hunted the next day wich was thursday, and Friday morning I turned my bow down 6 pounds and resighted, still quite painful. My bow was originally on 65 pds, now it' s on 59, I have been shooting 3-d since January. My shoulder feels better now, just a slight pain, but I' m worried about what damage there might actually be. You guys be careful, I' ve been shooting all year and still hurt my shoulder, if their are any orthopedics reading this, I would be interested to here your responses or suggestions. Just to be clear, it' s my bow arm, not my drawing arm.

25lieb

i have been thinking about this for a few minutes and was wondering was there a pop, or anything like that, or when you pulled back was there a sharp pain or a cramp type feeling?this could give someone a better idea as to what could have happened.

Mountain Cur

More of a sharp pain, no pop, I didn' t really pay it much attention until afterwards, I thought that it was just the strain of drawing while sitting. After it happened I couldn' t drive with my left hand at the top of the steering wheel, now i have to have my right hand at the top and my left at the bottom with my arm resting on my leg.

farm hunter

You Have my Pain!!! - and I feel for ya.

Really, Its possibly a rotator cup injury. My bow arm has it real bad - all year (due to my arthritis most likely) - I' ve been putting off seeing the doctor about it - but it HAS cut into my practice time alot this year - compared to past years. Actually - I' m not sure its all bad - the smaller practice sessions have forced me to be more " one shot oriented" and I have done well.

The symptoms of my shoulder pain are:

Driving - THE WORST
Sleeping - cannot sleep on my stomach - or with my arm over my head.
Typing - on the computer agravates it.

Curiously - shooting my bow - doesn' t hurt so much - its later (usually when I go to sleep) that it bothers me.

Advil works good................

Mountain Cur

Thanks for the tip on the advil farmhunter, I kinda think it may be a tendon instead of the rotator because it was more of a pushing injury instead of a pulling injury. But, driving was the worst for me also, and still is to some degree, although not nearly as bad as last thursday and friday. My dad had to have rotator surgery and when the rotator goes bad you can' t lift your arm straight up over your head, I can lift mine straight up. My dad worked offshore, and someone left a manhole on a catwalk open one night. My dad fell through it and managed to catch himself, but he completely tore his rotator cuff in the process, man don' t you know that hurt like crap, but it was a long way down to the floor, that was better than dying thank God.

trestand

I had shoulder surgery 6 years ago,rotater cuff,bone spurs,chips,the whole nine yards.This was a result from playing ball like an idiot for 18 years.80% let-off is a blessing,but every time I go hunting or even just shooting,I take a couple of Advils before I go out...Bob

wilk

about 8yrs ago i popped my shoulder while pulling back my bow on an unusually cold morning after i got up my treestand i wasnt warmed up and a buck came by and i pulled back differently and let me tell you you could have heard the pop if you were standing 30yds away, after the pop i still managed to get it pulled back and shoot but i shot under the buck, i was in so much pain and the buck just ran like 10 yds and still tempted me, but the pain was to much to risk another shot that may have been a bad one, i missed a couple weeks of bowhunting and i couldnt throw a baseball for about 2yrs... i didnt go to the dr which i should have, but everything is fine now, it healed on its own, but i know it was a rotator cuff....
make sure you dont overstress it for awhile and make sure you stay loose when your up your tree. I continuosly move my shoulder around and my arms to stay loose, your body gets weeker when its cold and sometimes we forget to stay warmed up just like any other sport.....
good luck...

JeramyK

Mountain Cur, how long has it been since you injured your shoulder ? I think that' s a good indication as to what, if any, damage could have happened. One thing that I have found beneficial was a change in my workout routine. Now, by no means am I a fitness guru but I have found that upper back and shoulder related exercises really help come time for the season.

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cableguy119

Go to the doctor.
Lots of reasonable advice is here but If you beleieve any of this advice is better than seeing a doctor you are only kidding yourself. Shame on you, you know what you should do and yet you seem reluctant to do it.
You wouldn' t take a texas heart shot with 100 grain muzzy why would you take medical advice from a message board? If you would take either get out of the woods no one is safe.