Hurt Shoulder?

[trueblue1776]

Every month or so we see a new thread about a fella in the market for a new gun, one of the qualifiers is that it must be easy on the shoulder due to previous injury. I think outdoorsmen are especially prone to shoulder injury, and it's no joke, significantly tearing your rotator cuff will have a large impact on your lifestyle, no more shooting, that's for sure.

Recently, I tore my right rotator cuff, again. Instead of going to the clinic, i decided I would take matters into my own hands and fix it myself.

I dropped my entire workout schedule and stopped taking my entire supplement regiment, with the exception of Glucosomine/MSM. After a week or so of intense pain, the inflammation went away. Then I swallowed my pride and bought a set of 2 and 5lb dumbbells from the local sporting goods store.

With the 2lb (and eventually 5lb), you can strengthen the muscles surrounding the cuff with little or no impact on the cuff itself, as my shoulder gets stronger I am amazed how much I have been neglecting my shoulders. I always thought my joints were stronger than my muscles, not so. Just because I can put a bag of feed corn on each shoulder doesn't mean I should.

Well, I'm shooting again, and doing normal stuff with no pain, here's a link to low impact dumbbell exercises for shoulder repair. I know there are a bunch of guys here who keep hurting their shoulders, and even if your shoulder isn't torn yet, these little guys will help you out big time!

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/physical/injuries/265.html

As an aside: I know an anti-inflammatory (like Celebrex) will make your shoulder pain free in less than 24 hours, but you will surely damage it further by continuing your activities with your shoulder feeling normal.

 

[Seancass]

if you cant swallow your pride to buy a set of small weights, i bet there are a lot of things around your gun room that weigh 2-5 lbs. Plus, you dont have to buy them again. And you could do the exercises privately for your own good!

just a thought, i'm young and invincible.

 

[Bobarino]

i'm hip to your struggle TrueBlue. i'm just now getting back to the gym after separating my shoulder and breaking my collar bone last APRIL!. (dirtbike wreck) i've always kept myself in excellent physical shape but 7 or 8 months away from the gym coupled with not being able to use my left arm at all for ~4 of those months lead to a spaghetti noodle of an arm. its a little embarrassing to bust out a 5 lb weight and go to town at the gym but better to do that than jump back into the 40 pounders and injure myself again. it sure made my first time back trap shooting interesting. i'm right handed and by the end of the 100 rounds my left arm was shaking from supporting the gun. it sucks big time. the busted clavicle made backpacking just a weeeeee bit difficult too.

Sean,

i was invincible too. i wasn't nice to my body at all. i played at least two sports every year from age 4 to age 22. 14 broken bones, three surgeries to repair various soft tissues, two giant cell tumors, a bout with luekemia, tendinitis in my knees, carpal tunnel, and arthritis in my shoulders have convinced me otherwise these days. i'm 31 years old. i'll be lucky to be able to walk when i'm 50. take care of your body. you'll miss it when its gone.

Bobby

 

[damyankee]

Just letting it be for awhile works too. Screwed up my rotator incline pressing 100lb dumbbells with improper form after getting tired.

Let it be for a couple months (no strenuous activity) and I'm back to grappling on it and lifting.

 

[Joe Gunns]

+1 on Seancass's gun room suggestion. I noticed that my left arm was getting tired during (not so) extended rifle sessions. Started using a ten pound rifle like a barbell and OM .45 Vaqueros with weighted snap caps as dumbbells with upper body exercises. Seems to be working well, I not only am steadier offhand, but have fewer random shoulder aches and pains. Using the guns tricks the lazy part of my mind into thinking the workouts are (almost) fun.
JB

 

[Zeke/PA]

I had a rotator cuff problem last year about this time.
My options?
Surgery or pyhsical therapy.
I opted for six weeks of therapy followed by six months of a really simple dumbell exercise daily.
I guess I chose smartly as I back to the Archery thing again and I am able to painlessly work at my part time job(toolmaker).
Zeke

 

[230RN]

Yeah, I yanked my trigger finger a couple of weeks ago on a door which electronically locked just as I hauled on it with that one finger. I thought I pulled my hand out of the wrist. Moderate excercise, and moderate analgesics (only to sleep) and a Hafast Cast I invented for sleeping did the trick.

The Hafast Cast was a tennis ball down a sock, followed by my sore paw. I wrapped my hand around the ball in the sock to keep it from getting bunged up further during sleep.

Oh, the moderate excercise was double-action dry-firing a Smith and Wesson revolver.... Imagine a Doc prescribing that? Heh heh hehhhh.

As an aside: I know an anti-inflammatory (like Celebrex) will make your shoulder pain free in less than 24 hours, but you will surely damage it further by continuing your activities with your shoulder feeling normal.

I second that. Pain is a warning... remember?

if you can't swallow your pride to buy a set of small weights, I'll bet there are a lot of things around your gun room that weigh 2-5 lbs.

Water bottles make good weights. And they're infinitely adjustable in weight between full and empty. I'm surprised no astute bottler of water hasn't made a bottle that is dumbell-shaped. "A pint's a pound, the world around." (A US pint is actually 1.04375 lbs. Av.)

Frankly, after 68 years of getting banged around, falling down ravines, three bicycle-related concussions, at last count 6 broken bones, etc, etc., I'm amazed at the natural curative powers of the human body. (Yes, I'm human, despite what my ex-wives say.)

ETA Make that 7 bones. I just remembered another one. I'll probably remember more as that cold front moves through Colorado.

 

[Lurp]

I used to be big into power lifting and tore my labrum in my right shoulder on incline press. It definiteley put a hurt on my lifestyle, but was lucky enough to have surgery this past summer and things are pretty much back to normal. A little slight pain every once in a while, but nothing compared to what I used to have. The best thing for me was going to a good physical therapy office after my surgery and they helped me gain 100% of my strength back along with strengthening the joint and surrounding muscles. I learned in physical therapy that light weight will do a lot if you are doing the right exercises and I reccommend people take the time to do as he OP says and strengthen the joints.