Injured Shoulder: Any Non Shooting Exercises to Keep Me Sharp?

So about two weeks ago I managed to injure my shoulder playing guitar. I currently play speed/heavy/death metal band but have played blues, classic rock, classical, etc. I hadn't played for a couple months when my friend/other guitarist found a drummer and a bassist to play with. We went over and had a great time. We jammed five more times over the next two weeks. During the last session we played for maybe seven to eight hours. The day after that last session my shoulder felt like it was on fire.

That was three weeks ago and while my shoulder is no longer on fire I cannot play guitar, put weight on my shoulder (no more missionary position), lift anything above my shoulder, drive for more then twenty minutes, or throw a ball/frisbee for my dog. I used to spend at least one day a week at my range shooting my .22's but my range is roughly twenty-five to thirty minutes away which is too long to drive, and I fear that even shooting my .22's might further injure my shoulder or increase my recovery time.

As far as I can tell I injured my labrum or something in that general area. When I try to play guitar the tendon becomes inflamed, my my hand begins to go numb, my bicep begins to feel the fire in my shoulder, and the fire in my shoulder grows. I've been shooting for a little less then a year and don't want to lose what I've already learned. Muscle memory is key.

Has anyone had a similar injury? and if so, how did you treat it?
Are there any drills or exercises that you can recommend that would keep my shooting ability from degrading while my injury heals?

Thanks for all your help in advance

Thanks for all the wonderful advice and sorry I took so long to respond. I've been pursuing an aggressive regiment of ibuprofen to reduce swelling, liniment oil to reduce pain and swelling, heat and cold, and minor stretches to minimize the loss of range of motion (if any loss occurs).

A couple quick responses

DoubleMag said:

I highly doubt the last motion is the reason for the pain, it was just the straw that broke the camels back so to speak.

Click to expand...

While it would seem that simply playing guitar could not be the cause of the injury, repetitive motion injuries are very common among musicians, athletes, construction workers, and office workers. Carpal Tunnel syndrome is a great example of a very common ailment caused by repetitive motion which can affect anyone in the previously mentioned fields. If you are unfamiliar with it Carpal Tunnel syndrome is basically when the tendon and and nerve that runs from your forearm down through your palm becomes irritated due to overuse, misuse, repeated use of power hand tools, or other injuries in the area. I've known a number of drummers, and one guitarist (not me), who have suffered from Carpal Tunnel syndrome and a couple of painters/plasterers who have suffered from it as well. That being said, you may well be right and the injury could have been present for a long time but playing guitar was the straw that broke the camels back.

MifflinKid said:

You need to see an orthopedic doctor.

Click to expand...

In regard to Mifflinkid and all the other people telling me to go see an orthopedic doctor, if the pain does not go away or range of motion does not begin to return within another week or two I will be seeing a doctor. Hell, I'll see a doctor regardless of whether or not the pain goes away cause I need to be able to play music and shoot things.

1942bull said:

That made modified Weaver and. Isosceles stances unworkable for me in hand gun use and rifle use too because of the shoulder recoil.

Click to expand...

Sadly I live in NY state and obtaining a handgun permit is tough as hell so I all own/shoot are rifles and shotguns. Trying different stances is a great tip I will be doing.


I was able to reduce the pain and regain almost full range of motion
I was able to greatly reduce the pain using a method from another guitarist friend of mine who has had similar problems although the cause or injury was very different. In his case he was in a major car accident as a teenager which resulted a dislocated shoulder and a torn labrum. As a result his shoulder slips out of the socket sometimes. His fix for this was to ball up my hand into a fist, put it in my armpit, and then bring the affected shoulder down on the fist. I thought it wouldn't do much, but to my surprise and delight my shoulder stopped burning. The tendon that runs down the arm still hurts, but my fingers no longer go numb and I have full range of motion again.

Once again, thank you for all the wonderful responses and kind words.