Sometime last October I started having shoulder pain bad enough to go to a doctor, and I normally avoid doctors, so it was pretty bad. I didn’t currently have insurance and so I didn’t get an MRI, because it didn’t seem wise to document a pre-existing condition.. (Turns out that just going to the doctor documents your problem for the insurance companies, so I was screwed anyway, but back to the shoulder....) Since the doctor didn’t have an MRI film to look at he guessed it might be tendonittis and said to rest the shoulder. So I tried to, for a couple of months, and it kept getting worse with pain and symptoms in the other shoulder as well. I could barely reach high enough to wash under my arms, struggled to get a coat on, arms wouldn’t reach above my belt loops in the back. It became hard to drive because reaching out to shut the truck door or shift gears would cause sharp pain that felt like someone twisting your arm behind your back. In January, I finally got an MRI, and it showed up adhesive capsulitis, which is the medical term for frozen shoulder. I still don’t know if I got frozen shoulder because I did what the dr said, which was rest the arm or if it already was FS from the beginning. It’s a very confusing condition which can mimic other shoulder conditions and by the time it’s diagnosed it can be too far along to reverse. Here is some copy and paste facts about Frozen Shoulder and then below I write some more about my recovery.

_______________________________________________

Frozen shoulder is characterized by pain and loss of motion or stiffness in the shoulder. It affects about two percent of the general population. Frozen shoulder most commonly affects patients between the ages of 40 and 60 years, with no clear predisposition based on sex, arm dominance, or occupation.
The causes of frozen shoulder are not fully understood. The process involves thickening and contracture of the capsule surrounding the shoulder joint.
Frozen shoulder occurs much more commonly in individuals with diabetes, affecting 10 percent to 20 percent of these individuals. Other medical problems associated with increased risk of frozen shoulder include: hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, Parkinson's disease, and cardiac disease or surgery.
Frozen shoulder can develop after a shoulder is immobilized for a period of time. Attempts to prevent frozen shoulder include early motion of the shoulder after it has been injured.

Some physicians have described the normal course of a frozen shoulder as having three stages:
Stage one: In the "freezing" stage, the patient develops a slow onset of pain. As the pain worsens, the shoulder loses motion. This stage may last from six weeks to nine months. Stage two: The "frozen" stage is marked by a slow improvement in pain, but the stiffness remains. This stage generally lasts four months to nine months. Stage three: The final stage is the "thawing," during which shoulder motion slowly returns toward normal. This generally lasts five months to 26 months.
________________________________________________
So I have this in both shoulders and even though I had it when I shot my deer last year it soon got to the point I couldn’t even shoot a gun. I remember a low point when I tried to shoot a squirrel and realized I didn’t have enough range of movement to aim the gun. I tried to draw my bow and found out I couldn’t even raise the bow let alone draw it. My arms had atrophied to the point I couldn’t feel anything but bones under the skin, there were no muscles at all. And this all happened within a few months. At that particular time I couldn’t exercise them because the slightest thing would flare up the inflammation and it’d feel like a hive of riled up bees was nesting in my shoulders.

here was horrendous pain and no doctor wanted to prescribe anything strong enough to relieve it. Use Tylenol, they said or they would write a script 800 mg ibuprofen, which i could do the same by taeking four otc's. Big mystery to me, WTF do they save serious pain meds for? I have a pretty strong suspicion they don’t want to relieve pain that could result in a big payday when the patient is driven to consider surgery. Anyway FS (frozen shoulder) pain is so bad and relentless that you can’t sleep so you go through every day hoping the day will pass and then toss and turn all night hoping for the night to pass. But I’m otherwise tremendously healthy, and I think I may have passed from stage 1 (the painful freezing stage) to stage 2 (the numb frozen stage) more quickly than average. Six weeks ago the pain let up enough for me to start exercising, plus I’ve did some unorthodox methods to “unstick†the shoulders so although internal rotation is still difficult, I can lift my arms over my head now. To help release the joints I would lay on my back on the floor with a small weight in hand, holding the arm up until the weight pushed it slowly and agonizingly to the floor above my head.

With the ability to get my hand above my head and the earlier mentioned decrease in inflammation I was able to start strengthening exercises. I started out with 1, 2 and 3 pound weights and have quickly worked up to 10, 12 and 15 lb weights. Since I can now put my arms overhead, my goal is to be able to do a chinup. (Before FS, I could do at least 3 or 4) I started out with my feet on the floor and I’d pull up on my tiptoes but not all the weight would be totally on my arms. Right now I can pull partway up and take my feet off the floor for 5 seconds. When I can actually do a full chinup, and then when I can do 3 or 4 of them I’ll try to shoot my bow again. I’ll have to go down in draw weight from 49 lbs. I understand forty pounds is the lowest recommended draw weight for deer, and I hope to achieve that, will have to buy new limbs. So that’s my goal for this fall, to get back to bow hunting again. Not gonna say wish me luck...i doubt anyone is still reading, i know health problems are BORING! LOL

Penny

Penny,

Sorry to hear of the shoulder trouble. What a bummer. Sounds like you need to take your time recovering and be careful. I have found Ibuprophen to be the best OTC pain and anti- inflamitory meds going.

Plinker,
My mother in law suffered from frozen shoulder. She did return back to normal after months of physical therapy. Her's was so bad they had to un-stick the shoulder, heard it was painful.

She also rented a machine through her therapist that would rotate her shoulder manually, it must have helped. She never mentions any pain now, that was 12 years ago.

Best of luck to you

Good luck in your recovery and efforts to shoot your bow.

My arthritis is beginning to really give me problems, but nothing like what your going through. I'm going to keep shooting my bow as long as I can. The exercise of shooting the bow may be good for me.

I DID A CHINUP TODAY!



Penny

Today i wound my bow down to 43 lbs and i couldn't draw it. Then i wound it down to 40 lbs and i did manage to draw it, but it was pretty hard.

So i asked the bow shop about getting lower 30 lb limbs which would go up to 40 lbs but they'd have to be ordered. The guy said he could lower the bow a few more pounds by doing something to the string...shortening it or something. He did that and bottomed it out at 34 lbs and i can draw it. He said when it needs raised, not to do it with the limb adjustment, to bring it back and let him re-do the string first.

Worked out pretty good to not have to buy or wait on new limbs; and shooting ought to be the very best exercise possible.

Penny

Texas just removed the draw weight limitations for hunting... come hunt here.

Glad you are recovering.

minnesota just lowered draw minimum to 30 lbs.

Thanks guys.

Nice to know, just in case. But i'm really optimistic of building up to 40, got all summer to do it.

It's been too muddy out to shoot the bow, so i just draw it back 5 times a day for now.

Penny

Plinker,

Hate to hear that and hope you recover in full.

I know you want to shoot your bow, but it sounds like it's going to be a long road. Thought about a Xbow?

Have a Good One

Reloader

Take it slow, Penny, so you don't make it worse!

This might not be worth mentioning but have you seen a Chiropractor/Kinesiologist? My opinions on MD's are they are limited to medication and or amputation. My foster father had issues with his shoulder, probably not as severe, but my chiro helped him a great deal. Good Luck