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Bizarre question

So in the beginning of the year I decided to have my shoulders looked at. I have been having extreme shoulder pain in both for going on 2 years. I am going on 52 and not getting any younger. Before I saw the Doc I decided I would buy a new bow and get it all ready for an upcoming elk trip to Wyoming. I get the bow and get it all dialed in and ready for Sept. The MRIs show I have torn labrums in both shoulders, bone spurs and shredded tendons. They sound like rice crispies every time I draw a bow and hurt like hell. Sleeping was the worst because I am a side sleeper. On April 10th we go in and repair the left shoulder. The Dr cleans up the bad tendons, grinds off the spurs, sews up the Labrum and reattaches the tendons to good ones. 4 weeks in an immobilizer sling and I start physical therapy. 2 weeks in and I feel great, I am getting my range of motion back, I am on top of the world. It all hurts like hell but I am off the pain meds and just working hard. At the 6 week check up the Doc is not happy with my progress and he determines I have a frozen shoulder. He gives me 2 weeks to get it moving on my own with PT. At week 8, I can't get it to break free so I have no choice but to have procedure called "manipulation with anesthesia", basically they put me under and cranked the crap out of my shoulder to make it move in places I couldn't while awake. It sounds brutal but I slept like a baby through the whole thing. The best move I could have made, my motion scores have all increase substantially. I have been seeing my physical therapist 3 times a week and we are seeing huge progress. So much so that the other day I picked up my bow and drew it back. It is set at 60lbs and I got it back with difficulty but I got it back!!!! Now to my question, when I drew it back and anchored it felt very foreign, the draw length seemed to be almost an inch too long. Does it seem possible that having this type of shoulder procedure could have changed my draw length?? Before I make any drastic changes to my anchor and peep I will let things settle down and work on strength. I am taking it slow, but knowing I will be able to draw and shoot by July 15th is a huge positive motivation for me. I was just wondering if anyone else has every experienced this type of thing. Sorry for rambling. BTW, I am going in to get the right one done in early NOV. I hope I can fill my WI archery tag before then.

Can’t answer your question on draw length. One guess though is you were not pulling draw arm back all the way. As in your elbow on draw arm was out to the side instead of behind you.

About 3 years ago fell on ice broke shoulder in a couple places.. Once it healed I could not get my range of motion back. I could not lift arm higher than head after a lot of PT. I also had a manipulation under anesthesia. It was immediately better as in when I woke up.

Your shoulder is probably high and collapsing, this will result in a perceived draw length change. Mine did this after surgery, one of the hardest things during the latter stages of PT was getting and keeping my shoulder down. Good luck.

Good lord, I had similar surgery on May 13th! I couldn’t imagine drawing my bow so soon. Docs said no way I’d bow hunt til 2020 and pretty much forget about duck hunting with the shotgun this fall.

60 lbs? Is your Doc onboard with you doing this?

Thanks guys for the feedback. Before the procedure the Doc knew my timeline of being able to shoot by Aug 15th and he felt comfortable that it was a realistic goal. Charlie, I agree. I plan to work with my Genesis and work on form and release until I feel my strength is fully back. Also I will work hard on getting legs and lungs in elk shape.

Your physical therapist needed to break up that scar tissue with more aggressive PT. I have had both shoulders done...same as the OP. I was pretty careful as the Dr. said there was a 50/50 the molleys to the bone won`t take. Luckily they did.

I was OK and back to about 85% but like Charlie said, it takes a while to get 100% and have the confidence in the shoulder. My 2nd didn`t turn out like the first and stayed at 85%....but it`s livable.

I injured my shoulder pretty good in May 2016 doing stupid things for stupid reasons, doc gave me the option to go right to surgery or try to let it heal up and do pt. Well in my infinite wisdom I decided to let it heal on its own and skip the pt too because that stuffs expensive and heck I’m tough, it’ll be fine! Well it was August 2018 before I got my bow to full draw again, I’m finally back up to just a little shy of where I was before my injury draw weight wise, but my draw length changed from 29 inches to 30 somehow through the injury and healing.

UPDATE..... the past 30 days have been spent seeing my PT 3 times a week and mixing in visits to a professional massage therapist. The results have been fantastic. I started shooting the Genesis for a week or so then moved up to a light weight (30 lb draw) bow. Last week I was able to pick up and hold my Vertix and shoot it at 50 lbs. Me feeling the draw length was longer was due to the limbs being turned out for the lighter poundage. Yesterday I increased the poundage to 60lbs and was able to shoot 10 arrows. My goal is to build back up the strength and also increase the practice time. Things are progressing in the right direction. My PT and Doc are very impressed with my progress. 38 days we leave for Wyoming. I WILL be ready.

WOW that's really good to hear! I have similar progress except there's no way they will allow me to lift anything yet other than a couple pound dumbell in PT. We must have different injuries that allow you to draw a bow so soon. My doc won't even let me shoot a pistol yet! But, the PT dude says he is pleased with where I'm at on my timeline. Yesterday was 10 weeks out from surgery!

Good luck the rest of the way and keep us posted.

Good for you! Glad to hear you're doing so well in your recovery!

Great to hear, Nick! Looking forward to hearing how the hunt goes. Hopefully, your shoulder is healed up enough to be able “long arm” some pics of a big 6x6 ;-)

Good luck on the hunt!

Thanks Troy, I hope so too.

Maxracx,

I had full rotator cuff surgery on left shoulder in May of 2018. fell on it 10 days later then developed a frozen shoulder before rehab got fully underway.

Around 5 months later I also had the manual manipulation of my shoulder in order to free it up. (partially worked)

I hunted last season with a crossbow. Not a pleasant experience, the most cumbersome weapon I have ever hunted with !

After the season in early January 19, I had a second shoulder manipulation with surgery to remove scar tissue. STILL do not have full range of motion and I am still unable to hold my bow at arms length due the the overall weight of my SBXT. My issues are complicated by not exercising enough, being an insulin dependent diabetic and OLD AGE !

Oh well, woe is me ,

I'm off today to buy a new bow in order to get ready for this upcoming season !

Good luck with your rehab, shoot straight.

Rehab update, things are progressing ahead of plan. I have been able to shoot my bow at 60lbs for a almost a month now. Sights are dialed in out to 50 yds. I still have a bit of pain and soreness but I think it is from working out and over doing it a bit. At my last Dr visit my surgeon gave me the green light to pull as much as I was comfortable with. My goal was 60 lbs and that is what I am going to settle with for this year. I am able to shoot about 20 arrows before I have to call it quits. The Wyoming Elk opener is coming quick and I am glad to say I will be ready!!!! Good luck to those who are chasing the dream. Stay positive and push yourself, and don't let the nay sayers hold you back.

Good luck to you maxracx,we'll see how you hold up hauling out a bruiser Bull Elk,Lol!!

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