Shoulder replacement . Pull arm
General Topic
Has anyone had full shoulder replacement and been able to come back from it to bow hunt elk again ? Thanks??
Had total shoulder replacement surgery on my pull arm 11 months ago. Be religious with the office PT to loosen the shoulder up. Get permission to do more stretching exercises at home in addition to the office PT. For me, after 1 month of professional PT the surgeon had me do my own PT at home beginning with 4 times a day for the next couple of months. When released to do so, get the large rubber bands and pull on them and let the resistence pull both ways. I did stretching PT for 4+ months after surgery. Once you are released to lift weight or pull things with your arm get a low draw weight recurve bow and begin pulling on it several times a day, even just a few inches to begin with. You don't need a release or tab. Just grab the string and pull on it, but just as you would to draw it completely back. I eventually used my release when I began drawing the bow further back to full draw. You have to retrain your shoulder and back muscles. For me, by the 1st of July I was pulling 70 pounds on my bow better than I have with no pain for the first time in about 5 years.
Are you have standard replacement or reverse replacement surgery? I had standard surgery since my rotator cuff was not injured. It takes a long time for the shoulder to completely heal and regain total strength. My right shoulder still tires quicker than my left and the surgeon told me that it takes well over a year to completely recover.
Here's a crazy thought. Might it be easier/quicker/less costly & less painful to teach yourself to shoot with opposite hand? This of course depends if the injured shoulder precludes you from doing other things you want/need to do.
I'm going in Thursday. I hope to be shooting in the spring. I'll need the other one done too eventually. Sucks being an old wrestler, auto-bodyman, woodworker, farmer, painter, archery tech.
I've had two left shoulder surgeries, and three right shoulder surgeries so trying to switch is not possible. I need the reverse shoulder done. I've had the rotator re-sewn three times and my labrums are gone.
Thanks for the encouragement????
Good luck. I have had 3 surgeries on the right and one on the left and need another. But that being said I am still able to hunt just not as much practice as I would like to do. So far two doe and two bucks on the season. I'm sure a replacement will be in the future but holding out as long as I can.
Same as Tracker. Multiple surgeries on left shoulder. I can hunt no problem but 25 arrow practice sessions are out. Recovery is the key, go easy.
Once the temp goes below 50 deg I can't even pull the bow anymore. Decisions, decisions.
I'm with x-man. Will probably need both done eventually. My bow shoulder is the bad one. Very hard to hold at full draw with that pressure pushing into my shoulder. I'm down into the 50 pound range. Would love to get that bow shoulder done soon, but my orthopedic guy told me to put it off as long as I could. But it is definitely effecting my archery quality of life right now.
Pull arm is bad here too. Used to shoot at 70,now into low 50's and when cold it's a bitch. Hurts every day, have been told that I need full shoulder replacement. I too want to continue to hunt with my compound and hope I can line my fix up right after one of my next elk seasons so I'm ready for the following year. Good luck on Thursday X Man and let us know how your progressing.
Flincher. Thanks for the info and boost of optomism. I'm an old hockey, baseball and archer that just beat my shoulders to death. I think throwing a baseball from the outfield of 2 million times since I was a child and pulling bows that I shouldn't have pulled, did more damage than 50 years of ice hockey.
I need a reverse shoulder replacement but so far have been able to deal with the pain and inconvenience of limited arm use. I have been told my bowhunting days are pretty much done with the reverse. Also know of guys that got a standard shoulder replacement that have no issues with the compound at lower weights, 50-60 lbs.
The good news is this is still possible. 50 pound bow, full pass through. Dead deer in 50 yards.
I guess I should really be counting my blessings, I need surgery on both shoulders and after dropping this year to 53lbs DW can do 40-50 shots a day 4x-5x weekly. But I do a very extensive 3-4 minuet warm up of each shoulder before every shooting session and this has made a HUGE difference for me. If I don't warm up the result is my shoulders quickly fatigue and pain and discomfort set in rapidly and last into the fallowing day. If I do warm up no issues what so ever.
A guy on Trad Gang has documented his TWO shoulder replacements.
http://www.tradgang.com/tgsmf/index.php?topic=108835.0
20 hours since my surgery. The nerve Block wore off around 2AM this morning. Took my sling off just now to do my "dangle" exercises. So far the pain isn't much worse than the last time I shot my bow. Six weeks until I can raise my elbow away from my torso. Another six weeks after that before I can start pulling back a youth recurve. my goal is to be shooting 40# by turkey season. Back to my standard 52# hunting bow next fall. Then repair my bow arm shoulder next year at this time.
I am really impressed by the lack of pain that I have "at rest". I start PT on Monday, which will probably add some pain.
Hey x-man! If you don't mind, could you send updates every couple weeks on your progress? Would really appreciate it. It is encouraging to hear your pain is manageable. I've heard some horror stories about the pain.
Flincher spelled it out what it will take. It’s always encouraging to hear of others success. Be patient and determined. You’ll be back shooting.
Thanks everyone. At 68 years old and having shot bows of all types for 50 years, maybe the end of the passion is close.I would rather quit than pick up a firearm to hunt with. As some of you may know, I've posted a fair number of wildlife photos on the bow site over the last couple of years and now this might be my connection to the wildlife and woods that I love so much.
The summer practicing and during September 2017 I had to turn my bow down from 70 to 50 pounds to tolerate the pain in my pull arm shoulder. I refused to see an orthopedic surgeon before archery season because I didn't want to be told not to go hunting. I made an appointment the first week of October. They x-rayed the shoulder and was surprised that I could even move my arm. My shoulder was bone on bone with the ball worn flat. No wonder it hurt so darn much. They put a shot in it and gave me a prescription for pain meds. I was originally scheduled for surgery in February but I was able to take a cancellation spot on December 11th. My surgery went well even though they had to enlarge the incision by a couple of inches due to an issue with my pectoral muscles. Don't watch the procedure on You Tube before you have your surgery or you might change your mind. It is actually pretty crude to watch. My surgeon told me that for me it would not matter if it was a standard or reverse surgery that I would be pulling my bow by springtime. The MRI determines how they will perform the surgery.
I will attest that the first couple of weeks after surgery really suck. Plus you get to learn to do everything with your good arm since the other is in a sling 24/7 for the next three to four weeks. You need someone to help you get ready to shower. Or at least to begin with, I wasn't coordinated to do everything myself.
I just kept pushing myself throughout the spring. The first time I pulled the bow back at 50 pounds was a struggle, but I believe it was more mental for I had fear of tearing the incision. After that, I got after it and would start turning the limbs down at a half turn at a time until it got easy shooting that poundage and turn it down again. By July I was shooting 30 to 40 arrows at 70 pounds with zero pain. Still no pain today. Fantastic!
I also like shooting rifles and that was harder on the shoulder than the bow. Actually it was the scar tissue in the incision that hurt, not the shoulder. I still have to limit my shooting sessions especially with the big guns because the incision will begin hurting. I can shoot trap, but after a couple of rounds the incision will be tinder but not hurt.
This past summer at my 6 month anniversary I tried to convince the surgeon to do my bow arm because it hurts all the time as well. They x-rayed it, but there still is some cartilage so he refused. He did put a shot in it and that helped a lot.
Don't give up hope on pulling your bow. If there is a will there is a way.
Five days almost to the hour since surgery. First checkup this morning, they say I am progressing better than they could possibly have imagined. The nurse actually thought I was lying about the pain. Truth is, there is a considerable amount of "discomfort", but very little of what I would call pain. I was bone on bone for so long that what I have now is a dream. The only pain is the PITA of having to keep my arm in the sling.
I thought I was going to start PT today but, I guess it will be a couple weeks yet before they let me try any of that. I am to just continue with the pendulum swings and wrist/elbow exercises.
For those interested... My official diagnosis was as follows... I had partial tears in two tendons and a severe tear in one other. The tears were all fairly old and had a considerable amount of scar tissue that needed to be removed and repaired. My acromion was hooked and had several large spurs. The bursa had been torn into two halves and was more or less just sliding around loose. there was also something called calcific tendinitis.
Pretty much a total reconstruction was performed. The acromion was trimmed and restored, the bursa was totally removed and the tendons were trimmed, shortened and reattached. The bones that were rubbing together were polished. I only hope that their little shop-vac got all the little chips out.
Ice is my friend, and after typing this without my sling on...I better put it back on and get the ice out ;)
dreaded double click post
x-man, is yours a reverse or regular replacement?
x-man...the reel pain starts with PT....lol Having had both shoulders done ...Arm in the sling and the simple little exercises they give you are nothing. ..PT will get one's attention. ..but the pain/discomfort does get better each week with the increase in motion.
I had my left shoulder replaced Nov 12th of 2012... Not my pull arm but my bow arm. I was bow hunting elk the next fall. By May 2013, I was pulling low weights again and by sept I was shooting 70lbs again. But going into the surgery, I tried to put on as much muscle as possible in my shoulders, chest, upper back and arms to aid in recovery. Additionally, start physical therapy as soon as you can.
I can't remember what it was like to draw my bow without pain. Or to be able to shoot for an extended period of time without pain. That would be amazing!
"x-man, is yours a reverse or regular replacement?"
In all honesty, I don't know. I don't remember talking about anything "reverse".
Xman. How's the progress?
Xman. How's the progress?
Progress is good! I am doing almost everything non-strength related without pain. I can get dressed( long sleeve pull-overs, reaching all beltloops), I can wash my hair, use both hands to put socks on, I can reach just as far in all directions except reaching the middle of my back. Another couple weeks and I hope to have that motion back. This week I can start adding weights for strength. One or two pound weights to start with depending on the motion. I can already do wall pushups, and I can do arm curls with 10# weights as long as I keep my elbows in.
I meet with my surgeon again this coming week. I am hoping he will give me the green light for light weight training.
It will be a couple more months before I pick up a bow. So far though all of my pain is exercise induced. It is good pain, not like the bad pain I'm used to over the last several years. Each exercise session I hear new "snap-crackle-pop" sounds that are scar tissue break-ups. Those hurt a little, but they allow for more range of motion at the next exercise session. Good pain.
Something really bad would have to happen for me to regret doing this. So far, my biggest worry has been slipping and falling on the ice and snow. I'm almost past that now.
My neighbor who is an older gentleman...an retired diesel mechanic....had the reverse replacement. After months of rehab he decided to take his dog to the dog park. He was also afraid of slipping and falling and sticking his arm out.
A Golden Retriever runs into him..... he falls and breaks his femur. Talk about crap luck.
X-man did they actually replace your shoulder or just reconstruct it? Did they put a prosthesis in place. Both the humeral head and the glenoid will be replaced in my surgery. My surgeon said torn tendons and such actually take longer to heal than a full replacement. Shawn
My humeral head and glenoid were repaired and polished. My Acromion was replaced. The RC tendon that goes over the top towards the front was repaired and anchored. The larger RC tendon on the very front was full of scar tissue and calcium deposits which were scraped and cleaned up. The biceps tendon was also torn and repaired.
The biceps tendon tear was the most recent and most painful injury, the one that brought me to the dr. All of the rest of the damage was from years of repetitive motion and abuse. That biceps tear was a blessing in hind-sight.
So no prosthesis, you sound like you are doing well for all that damage. I am amazed the did not do a stemless ball and new lining to glenoid socket. Hope all goes smoothly the rest of the way!! Shawn
I had total reverse right shoulder replacement surgery 19 days ago. (Bow pulling arm) The pain has been terrible. I'm normally not a pain pill guy but this pain is at a whole new lever. To date, I'm taking oxycodiacetamin 5-325mgi 4x a day, without the oxy I cant function... I start PT today. Hopefully this will help. I have a S. Africa bow hunt planned for my son & I in 6 months. Hopefully, I'll be able to pull 60lbs prior to the hunt. The above comments from guys that had the same surgery is interesting.. Its good to hear that some of the guys are able to pull 70lbs within a year or less of the surgery.
My concern is that I'm a really old guy (77) & I may not be able to recover as fast of the younger guys.
So, how old are the guys that had reverse total shoulder replacement surgery & how long did it take to be able to pull 65/70lbs?
I had partial replacement (ball joint/humerus head replaced). On my left shoulder (not my pull arm) it took me a good 7-8 months to pull 70lbs again.. and I am a fast healer, I was 33 years old .... 4.5 weeks ago I had surgery on my right shoulder (bone spur shaved off, biceps tendonitis and scope to clean out a ton of debris).. just got the sling off a few days ago. Started PT 12 days post OP. I have total range of motion in shoulder. But in 1.5 weeks I can start strengthening the bicep again as that was lengthy part of recovery.
My Mother-in-law fell and shattered hers, had a total reverse shoulder replacement and is 15 months out now. To say it was a long road is an understatement but she is elderly. Was a full year in therapy.
c5ken, you have to keep in mind the reverse is a totally different animal than a standard replacement. I have a reverse somewhere down the not to distant future waiting for me. My surgeon told me that my bowhunting days would be over when that day comes. For those of you that do Facebook there is a group dedicated to shoulder replacements and rotator cuff injuries. Lots of good info there.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/57303947541/
Mr. creed, thanks for the info. I'll checkout the web you posted. I know nothing last forever, but I just don't want to let go of archery even though I'm a dinosaur. In order to hunt this past season, I had to use an xbow and it's not for me... I guess I can be confident that pulling 65/70lbs is not going to happed. Even if I end up only be able to pull 45/50lbs I can still hunt whitetails. I'm just happy I had the opportunity to hunt some of the big stuff before my shoulder failed...
I have been told if it is your bow arm and have a total reverse replacement do not count on that being your bow arm. In other words if you are right handed and your ledt shoulder has the reverse procedure performed there is a very good chance the new shoulder will dislocate. My doctor said if that was the case I would need to shoot left handed. If is your pull arm it is not as much of an issue but the recovery time for a reverse replacement is twice as long as anatomic replacement. Reverse are for folks with rotator cuff damage and bad humeral heads. Look up Wright or Tournier Simpliciti stemless total shoulder replacement. If you have good bone density it is the way to go!! Shawn
