Anyone else experience a "carry related" injury?

[MyRoad]

I've been carrying IWB for about 8 years now, usually something like a G19 in a kydex holster.

I've developed some issues with pain and numbness on that side, and if I switch to OWB it lessons significantly. That's just not a way that I can conceal except during the coldest months of the year.

Just wondering if anyone else has found that carrying went beyond 'discomfort', and actually created physical issues?

 

[holdencm9]

Not yet but sometimes after a long day of carrying I am a little sore on the opposite hip, probably from favoring that side subconsciously. Even if I "forget" I am carrying, it seems my body self-corrects somehow. I could see this having some cumulative effect on some people down the road. Maybe a better holster that distributes the pressure better would help, or a different mode of carry.

 

[morcey2]

Closest I have is when I cut a corner too sharp and pinched the skin on my arm between my pistol and the corner. Left a ginormous blood blister. It sounds to me like you need to switch to a different IWB holster. With mine, a kholster, I completely forget I have a gun there most of the time.

Matt

 

[MyRoad]

The holster itself is comfortable, for years its not been an issue -- to the point that I would joke that if I ever needed it, I might have forgotten its there!

Recently its gotten bad, to the point where I simply can't carry IWB. The duration of the issue suggests that it would be recurring, even if I were to take a break from it and then resume at a later time. I'm considering all options, including training "weak hand", and carrying on the other side. Everything is on the table.

I've found shoulder holsters to be too limiting in terms of concealment, so they are not practical for me. I've pocket carried in the heat of the summer, worst case scenario I do that all year round. I don't like it, but its better than nothing. I'm going to experiment with "fanny packs", but its another solution that does not sit well with me.

It's funny, with all of the gun talk between gun owners and non-owners occurring these days, and most of the people I know being non-gun-owners, this is a topic I can't discuss much. Their answer would be simple, as if it was too obvious to even discuss -- they would say, "well then, if it hurts, stop carrying". Ah, were it only that simple.

 

[zdc1775]

Visit a Chiropractor. I have the same problem only compounded by a severe lower back and strong side knee injury.

 

[MyRoad]

Visit a Chiropractor. I have the same problem only compounded by a severe lower back and strong side knee injury.

Interesting that you say that, I don't have medical insurance and I have had back issues before, so the only "doctor" I've seen about this was a chiropractor. He had some interesting things to say, but did not feel that chiropractics alone would resolve this -- in other words, changing the situation that was initiating the problem (carrying) would need to be part of the solution.

 

[Dnaltrop]

Once in a while my shoulder rig will shift and I'll catch myself in the elbow with the butt of the Blackhawk.

Comfort wise, once I started carrying 2 pistols at once, the weight seemed to put everything into balance.

 

[psyopspec]

What kind of belt are you using? A good stiff leather gun belt is just as important as the holster for setting up a good carry rig that is secure and can be carried all day without discomfort.

Source: I carried with regular belts for years before making the switch. Wish I'd done it from the beginning.

 

[zdc1775]

Interesting that you say that, I don't have medical insurance and I have had back issues before, so the only "doctor" I've seen about this was a chiropractor. He had some interesting things to say, but did not feel that chiropractics alone would resolve this -- in other words, changing the situation that was initiating the problem (carrying) would need to be part of the solution.

Yeah mine told me to stop carrying too, he decided to help come up with another solution when I told him that I would just find someone else to help then. Might not be an option in your situation but it was for me.
Also like psyopspec said a real gun belt would probably help.
I will send you a PM with some of his suggestions for me

 

[Sam1911]

I can't recall suffering one myself, but I induced one once.

My 6 year old daughter "made" me one day in front of family and a bunch of other Cabela's shoppers. She was, as usual, being hyperactive, fast, and a bit clumsy. She came flying down a row between some clothes racks and smashed fore-head first into the butt of my 1911! Made a cantaloupe "THUNK" that I swear everyone in the store turned around to figure out "what was THAT?" She burst into tears and fell on the floor holding her head! Left a big white DENT right in the middle of her forehead.

 

[1911 guy]

Twice, both involved slips and falls.

The first time I was bowling with my very young son. He was about three at the time and "granny" bowling. Pushing the ball with both hands, not very hard, down the lane. I had to give it a swat to get it down to the pins. He grabbed the junior sized ball from the return and toddled up to the line and basically just dropped it. I hurried up to give it a push. And stepped over the foul line. I saw two feet bracketing the pins and had enough time to think "Oh. This is going to hurt." Then gravity regained control and I fell from low earth orbit directly onto my right side. Where my pistol was. Nice loud thump and an equally nice bruise.

The second time I was out getting dog food in the wintertime a few years later. Stepped on a patch of ice and saw the same feet extended outward, this time bracketing my car door. Fell on my left side this time, hard enough to break the floorplate on a magazine. Laid there on the ice for a minute, trying to regain the breath knocked out of me by the fall and a fifty pound bag of dog food landing on my chest. After much wheezing and sucking cold air, I gathered up six rounds of spilled ammo (one stayed in the mag body somehow) and my pride, then continued home. Replace the floorplate, but haven't carried plastic floorplate mags since.

 

[JustinJ]

I've developed some issues with pain and numbness on that side, and if I switch to OWB it lessons significantly. That's just not a way that I can conceal except during the coldest months of the year.

Just wondering if anyone else has found that carrying went beyond 'discomfort', and actually created physical issues?

I haven't but it could it be the way you are forced to sit when carrying? Just a wallet can actually cause back problems for those who sit for extended periods of time on a regular basis which is why its a good idea to remove it when driving on long trips.

 

[MyRoad]

I do use a very thick gun-specific gun belt, been on that road for years. I have a couple more months of winter where I can carry OWB to figure this out. Thanks for all of the suggestions.

 

[ljnowell]

No, but I did get a stern lecture from my doctor one time. I have had a major back surgery a few years ago. I wasnt carrying in the drs office, but i was leaving for St louis after the appointment so I had my SOB holster for a 1911 on already. When he saw it he gave me hell.

Since I had lower back surgery he told me I may as well buy a wheel chair if I want to carry that way. One slip and fall and land on a gun on the spine, done. He told me that he tells anyone that, not just people with a bad back. Traded off the hoslter asap. Now I only carry OWB, in my jacket, or in a shoulder rig.

 

[proud2deviate]

After a long day of carrying with a too-tight belt, I noticed the the surface of my left thigh (just the skin,) was completely numb. I think I compressed a nerve or something, because it stayed numb for at least a few weeks. Now I know to not cinch down so tight, and also to check my rig if it has a chance to settle down on my bony hips for too long.