Shooting after shoulder surgery??

[George P]

Several friends have had shoulder surgery, including reverse shoulder replacement. Doing your rehab PT religiously is the key to a full recovery, regardless of how long it takes. If you are not self-disciplined to do your part when on your own, get into some form of support group or your shoulder will never fully recover. Shooting can take a break for a while

 

[doubleh]

I never shed any tears but would have if I thought it would have helped during the first two weeks. There was a big burly young guy that started therapy the morning I did that I had three session with and didn't see again until the last week. He had tears running down his face that first week. The last week he was laughing about crying and wasn't the least bit ashamed about it.

 

[kscharlie]

I am amazed by how many folks here have had rotator cuff surgery. It has been 10 years since I had the surgery on my right shoulder. Although I am right handed, fortunately I shoot long guns left handed. If I recall, I used a sling for five days following surgery, then began the physical therapy. My surgeon firmly believes in PT as soon as possible. After surgery, I used a circulating ice water pump specifically designed for the shoulder. This device was part of the "surgical bill" and was given to me right after surgery. A truly incredible device. I had a group of amazing therapists and was very diligent in doing ALL of the therapy. Six weeks after surgery, I killed two longbeards with my 12ga. turkey gun (shooting left handed, of course). The Doc told me I would not be "able" to do so. That was sort of a challenge to me. At any rate, it took a bit over 12 months for a 100% recovery, but there was very little I could not do after the first 6 months. Fortunately, I have little memory of the pain associated with this surgery, but I do recall that the first several days were rather intense. Physical therapy was difficult at first, but got progressively easier (as it should).

Live everyone else has said, follow the instructions and do the PT without fail. I have seen the results of folks who did not perform the PT religiously and the results were not good. You get one chance at this. Do it right and you will have no regrets. Good luck to you, and be sure to keep us posted.

 

[Reloadron]

Obviously this will put a big cramp in my shooting style. Has anyone out there had this experience? Was your surgery successful? Is the predicted 6 months about right? Will appreciate correspondence on this issue.

I have had the surgery in both shoulders with about 5 years between. I can share this first hand. Yes, the six months is about what it takes, for some faster and for some slower. Yes, it did cramp my shooting but I most enjoy outdoor shooting so being here in NE Ohio I was able to schedule the surgery during a period when it was deep winter and I was not going to be on the range much anyway. I can also tell you following surgery and before therapy do as ordered by your surgeon or you will have a much bigger cramp than your style. While healing all of the surgeon's work is vulnerable so do not break the rules. I do know two people who pushed and destroyed the surgeon's work and ended up needing the repairs done all over again. Everyone else, including myself had successful surgery. The therapy? I refereed to my therapist as the Mistress of Pain but if you work at it and through it things go real well and you get full travel of the shoulder back.

I will share the following for what it may be worth. The first surgery was done in the morning and is outpatient. My surgeon had what I called the block guy. After I was under the block guy used a nerve block so when I woke up I did not even know I had an arm, which was in a sling. I was also prescribed some heavy narcotic but only about a single day worth and after that it was hydrocodone but weak stuff and mostly aspirin. The evening following surgery about 11 PM I began to feel tingling in my fingers as the nerve block started to wear off. Within an hour I hurt like heck and was like what the heck did they do to me. I took the heavy narcotic which did about nothing. That was a lousy 24 hours. The second shoulder I remembered the first and as soon as I felt feeling start to return I ate the narcotic stuff (I also may have had a few beers). The pain was much more manageable.

Overall and seriously, do what the doctor tells you to do. He or she will wait till you are ready for therapy and then prescribe it. The surgery is pretty common and yes, if you follow the rules it works well, you break the rules and you will wish you hadn't. I wish you the best through the procedure and enjoy your nap. My experiences were all good and all I can share is my personal experience.

Ron

 

[bobinoregon]

I had my shoulder fixed and some staples in a tendon and it was probably 5 months before I was brave enough to shoot a rifle. As far as I'm concerned the surgeon was Jesus with a knife, but it was still a painfull recovery

 

[doubleh]

I had a novacain pump in each shoulder that's supposed to last 48 hours. Neither made it quite that long and you will know almost to the second when the thing is done. You remove the tube and put a bandaid over the little hole. My wife wouldn't do mine but my grand daughter that was going to nursing school was happy to do so. I bled like a stuck hog and blood just squirted out when she removed the tube but it didn't bother her a bit although my wife sort of had a fit. She just stuck her thumb in the hole and held it there until the bleeding stopped, cleaned up the blood, and stuck a bandaid on it. All that was left was some serious pain to cope with

When I had my second shoulder done as soon as she saw me she asked if she could remove that tube too. The answer was "yes, your grandmother won't do it". I accused her of being a ghoul. This one went as it was supposed to. Remove tube, apply bandaid, and done except for the pain.

My doctor prescribed celebrex for my therapy. I would take it about 30 minutes before my therapy appointment and I found it to make a huge difference. I quit it as soon as therapy was finished each time. Clebrex has some nasty long term use side effects.

 

[TonyInFla]

Had my left shoulder fixed several years ago. Hurt like h.... Pay attention to what the doctor and therapists say and DON'T rush it. I heal slow and was over a year before I was back to normal. Wish ya luck!

 

[Dr T]

I had my right shoulder done twice: The first time in 1999 and the second time about 3.5 years ago. Not much to add. The first time, the full strength recovery took about a year. The second time, well, I am still coming up to full strength (but the damage was a lot worse). The best PT strength builder I found was swimming. Due do a number of other issues, I was unable to swim after the last surgery until just recently. I can already feel the strength coming back into the upper body. But, it has a way to go.

This last time, I waited 6 months before shooting, and shot nothing heavier than a 308. If the recoil hurts, you clearly don't need to be shooting.

And, for me, the most annoying thing was putting on socks with one hand.

On the plus side, it certainly straightened out my slice in golf.

Good luck.

 

[bluejeans]

I broke 7 bones on the dominate side arm/ shoulder/ chest... it still hurts.
I started shooting again at about 3 months Weak side only... handguns only.. was really good for my overall shooting form to just focus on the fundamentals. I actually changed to be left eye dominant for a year... was 1-1/2 years before I fired a high powered rifle from my dominant side.
Now at the 2 year mark I can shoot normally (not without pain tho) on my dominant side. AVOID PRONE with a rifle... I still haven’t recovered that

 

[Sniper66]

OK....time for an update....Had my surgery 5/17/18...2 months ago tomorrow. It's been a success so far. Have already recovered about 90% range of motion and some of my strength. Can't hurry things, but most of my worst fears have been erased. I'm going to start shooting later this week. I'll be mounting a scope on a new .22 and zeroing it. Firearms with significant recoil will have to wait. Physical therapy is tedious and slow, but pain has been easily manageable. My wife has happily returned all of my chores. She has been a saint through all of this. I've started planning hunting and shooting trips with great enthusiasm (and caution). Eager to engage in some weight lifting when the shoulder permits. Assuming all goes well, I'll have my final doc visit and PT session on August 10. But, my exercises will continue for months. Thought y'all would like to know my progress.

 

[FROGO207]

Good for you. Keep up the good work. Have a friend that had an auto accident and only came back 60% with his right shoulder. We are working on him learning to hunt with a handgun weak handed as that is about what he can manage at best. He is really stubborn and will become a successful hunter again. I wish I had his drive sometimes though.

 

[Reloadron]

Nice to hear things are going well. Yeah, just ease back into it getting the feel of a low to non recoil rifle in your shoulder. I started with 22 LR to 223 Rem and on up from there. I hated the therapy but it really worked eventually returning full travel on both shoulders.

Ron

 

[Bottom Gun]

I had total replacements in both shoulders this year. My right was done in February and I had my left shoulder replaced in June. I had lost so much range of motion that combing or washing my hair was very difficult.

Today, I seem to have full range of motion in my right again and my left is making great progress, much better than my right shoulder was at the same point. I was almost tempted to skip the PT on my left shoulder but decided I had better go through it.

Neither shoulder was very painful. I didn’t have to use any of the pain meds given to me. The toughest part of the whole procedure was having to wear that darned immobilizing sling. Sleep is nearly impossible while wearing it and you have to sleep in a chair or recliner.
I wore the sling religiously for the full six weeks with my right shoulder but ran out of patience with my left so I started taking it off at home after the first two weeks. I think that might be why my left is healing so much faster than my right did.

I’m back to shooting pistols now and am able to shoot rimfire rifles with no issues. I haven’t tried shooting .223 yet but will do so when I go out for coyotes in a week or two. Meanwhile, I have been taking care of pests around the house with my .22 magnum.

I think shedding the sling as early as possible and using the arm for light tasks is the key to healing. I was riding my ATV five weeks after surgery to my right shoulder and I’m getting ready to start riding again now that my left is at the five week mark. Riding seemed to help my right shoulder stay loose and my physical therapist said it was good exercise for it.

I don’t see shooting .223 as being a problem but I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I’m a bit apprehensive when I think about trying to shoot .308 but that’s on the back burner for now. I did sell my shotguns though. I don’t see any 12 gauge shooting in my future.

That has been my experience so far. . . . . . . . . .

 

[Sniper66]

Another update: First trip to the range yesterday. With regular exercise I've regained about 95% of my range of motion and working on strength. Actually my strength is fine, but with a 5lb limit on lifting, I have to avoiding getting in a hurry. Took my newly acquired Mauser 201 22LR to the range. Had it refinished and attached a Leupold Vx3i 2.5-8X scope. It is a stunning rifle. Shot 5 different ammo configurations and surprisingly found the Norma Tac-22 to be the best....better than CCI MM and SV. Shot groups of 5 that were mostly touching. Figure I can do even better with practice. Didn't take the time to do additional testing because this Kansas heat had sweat running into my eyes so I opted for AC and a beer. I was impaired very little. Only had to move sandbags with my left hand, but mostly I can do everything right handed. I feel daily improvement. Can't tell you how good it feels to be behind a gun again. The next big test will be dove season Sept 1st. Don't know if shotgun recoil will be prohibitive. I have a Benelli Legacy 20 ga that might be OK. Next doc consult is August 10. August 17th is noteworthy for 2 reasons; it is the 3 month anniversary since my surgery and is also my birthday. The doc originally told me 6 months to complete recovery, so might miss out on shot-gunning for awhile. But, squirrels will be a prime target this year with this new .22. Thanks for listening.

 

[red rick]

You are doing great with your range of motion , it took me about a year to get mine back to almost 100 % . Mine has been 21 months now and I am finally felling like I can do most anything and not injure it again . The first time I went hunting 3 months after my surgery ( the Dr, still didn't want me to shoot a pump shotgun yet ) I missed every rabbit that I shot at ( 3 ) and they were all standing still .

The bad news , I am going to quit putting off all my home repairs now . I am building a new deck next weekend if is not raining . Then after that replacing the siding on my shed and replacing the storm door .

 

[cw308]

Im on the other side of the fence, blew both shoulders years ago first the left then eight months later the right doing bench presses . Had my own business an never had the time . Now lifting my arms over shoulder hight is painful , benchrest shooting I love an doesn't bother my shoulders . Shooting a pistol is another story . When I was 18 l won a push up championship contest 1965 Queens NY . Now I am in pain doing 10 . Wish I could have corrected the problem years ago .