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I just had anterior decompression and fusion on C3-C7. If anyone has experience with a similar surgery, how long did it take for you to be shooting a big bore rifle? It will probably be near impossible for me to shoot from the prone now. Safe shooitng………..Larry | ||
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Your Dr will have a better idea than most of us, unless there's a Dr on here with experience. My wife had 2 vertebrae fused in her neck and the Dr advised 18 months before doing any shooting. Just make sure the fusion takes. Guns and hunting | |||
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Hogbreath gives good advice. Do you have titanium plates and screws? I have seen a lot more people happy with that sort of cervical/neck fusion, than those with lumbar/low-back fusions. Many times they said the cervical fusion was the best thing they ever did. I never heard that from a lumbar fusion recipient. 33 years as a practicing MD, being held accountable for the low-back-pain acts of God, was all I could take. Enjoy a 22RF until you are strong again, and work your way up from there, following your doctor's advice as you rehab, of course. Any further advice you get here is worth what you paid for it.  Rip ... | |||
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Thank you for your responses. I have the titanium plates and screws. I was hoping someone would chime in that has received this procedure. Dr's haven't told me much more than "take it easy" until my post surgery follow up in 2 weeks. Headed back to Africa end of April next year so I need to get back into shooting condition. LL | |||
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I had c3/4 fusion about 5 years ago. Day after surgery I walked 1 mile. Built up to 5 miles per day. 30 days after surgery guided whitetail hunters. 60 days after started culling deer. I have titanium plates and screws. | |||
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I had fusion @ C5,6 & 7, 10 yrs. ago.(Plate & screws) Talk to your MD & PT let them know what you would like to do & work your ass off! Do the Physical Therapy!!! Did I mention DO THE P/T!!  It took 8 mo. for me to get to shoot my Mauser 376 Styer. Good luck with your recovery  | |||
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I’ve had both C3 to C5 in my neck with plate, screws and fusion as well as L3, L4, L5 in my lumbar with post rods and fusion. How long it takes will depend on on Solid your bones are and how fast you heal. Ask your Dr. he will have better advice than anyone here. _____________________________________________________ A 9mm may expand to a larger diameter, but a 45 ain't going to shrink Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened. - Winston Churchill | |||
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I remember reading a story where one PH, had two different clients die from a heart attack after shooting big bores at game. He believed the shock wave from the recoil caused their heart attacks. BH63 Hunting buff is better than sex! | |||
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After over two weeks since getting my brisket split -- even the safari car ride bumps sound terrifying. No need to consult the thread, just believe that the now three-month wait to go to RSA has me doubting (even though my docs say "no sweat") I'll pull the trigger on my .375 Wby more than once. I DO want that hartebeest, though... _______________________ | |||
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I see my surgeon for post op tomorrow so I will let you know his thoughts. I am pretty tough for an old bald boy but as I get older it seems my recovery times are longer for my body than for my mind. We go back to Africa in April so I think I have more than enough time to recover. Safe travels...….LL | |||
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Saw my DR today. He said everything went great. No lifting over 10 pounds until our 6 week post op visit. He said by six weeks everything should be fine and fused correctly. He said if no issues then, go shoot my guns. He said if there is any abnormal pain in my neck when shooting, that will be my body telling me to wait a little longer. Sounds good to me! Safe shooting......LL | |||
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Here’s a smart ass answer NRA Patron member | |||
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Here’s a smart ass answer. Asking us that question is like you asking your non shooting doctor, what’s the best powder for a 404 Jeffrey with 400 grain solids. I’d ask my doctor when I can resume shooting, after describing the amount of shooting desired and some quantification of recoil. Good luck on your recovery. NRA Patron member | |||
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I don't really see that as a smart ass answer. It is how you have interpreted the situation with the limited information I provided. As far as asking that question on AR, I was hoping to get some responses from people with similar experience. I got that. As far as the Dr, he actually understands the situation very well. He was in 3/75 and is an active hunter. Safe shooting...………...LL | |||
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Here’s my $.02 Although cervical fusions are among the most successful spinal surgeries, there are a lot of variables in ACDF surgery that can help or hinder your fusion. First, if you smoke, stop - now. Second, did your surgeon use a machined allograft for the spacer or a titanium or PEEK spacer. I would say (anecdotally) that allografts have a higher fusion rate over PEEK and probably over Ti but fusion is difficult to assess radiographically even with a CT when looking at Ti implants. Many devices now have porous surfaces that accommodate bony ingrowth to the device so you could actually achieve a sound immobile segment without truly fusing across the disc space. The jury is out on whether that is sufficient long term over an allograft that can eventually fully incorporate. Six weeks sounds pretty quick to assume that the fusion is fully healed. Maybe good and stable but fused? Doubtful. I’ve seen patients whom have seemingly solid fusions at six months only to go on to a non union for no apparent reason. Look at the plating as an internal brace of sorts. It is only useful until the fusion takes. If fusion doesn’t happen then even these plates and screws can loosen or break. We always considered that there is a race between the patient’s ability to heal and the implants’ ability to maintain alignment long enough for the healing to happen. If the bone doesn’t fuse, then the implants can fatigue and break or the screws can loosen in the bone. Once the vertebrae fuse, the plate is largely redundant. I say slowly work your way up in your shooting. You should be good to go by Africa if you are careful and stick to your PT regimen. Also, something like 80% of your cervical spine mobility is in your occipitoatlantoaxial segments, meaning your C1, C2 and the occiput which is your skull base where it joins with your spine. That’s why your C1 is called your Atlas. Just as in Greek mythology, Atlas holds the world on his shoulders, your Atlas bone holds your head atop your body. You may not be as limited in the prone position as you expect. PS, I’m not a doctor. I’m a spine rep. | |||
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... and when your shoulder comes good, try not to need a pacemaker. I know of two guys who have been ordered to give up shooting because any amount of recoil affects them. | |||
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My wife has fusion surgery in October. I am not a doctor so I cannot explain this correctly. The lower portions have fused well. The upper portions have not fused even after 9 months. She has some physical restrictions even after 9 months. All fusions do not heal the same. Get checked by the doctor. It is damn interesting to see the X-rays of the fused area. It is not hard to see the problem . | |||
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From a "bush orthopods" perspective. Neck has 7 vertebrae and 8 motion segments. Rule 1: the instrumentation used to achieve fusion is a temporizing measure only to hold the motion segments until they undergo bony fusion. These devises are fallible ! and will fail if bony union has not occurred ! Do not risk failure by doing shit before bony fusion is not complete Rule 2: And this is about the long term. Think about the neck as a 7 link chain ! When you move your head and neck all motion segments move in concert and distribute stress equally. If you fuse 2 segments ( or more) and then move, the remaining segments are stressed more than before fusion and usually the segments directly above and below bear the brunt of the stress. The fused segments are stress risers ....... so the degenerative disease creeps over time to beyond the fusion site ! So think very carefully about how you want to proceed on this one ! My advice is simple: I never tell anyone what they can and cannot do ...... What I will do however is to lay the cards on the table ! If you beat your head against a wall you will get a headache !...... so if you enjoy beating your head go for it..... just remember there will be a headache and without stopping the activity there is likely no cure for the headache..... | |||
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Use a suppressor. I got one that works on .375HH up to .458 WM and Lott. Recoil is very mild. | |||
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As a former Trauma Doc, I pretty much second Alf's commentary. We all heal a varying rates within averages- are/were you a "quick" healer or a "slow" healer? Most who post here are not 19 anymore , therefore we are mostly "slow" healers. How soon is too soon? First you truly do not want to find out, better to go "too long" than too soon. Suppressors do mitigate recoil, however, if you take a 375 down to 30-06 levels, that still might be "too much" for certain individual healing scenarios. Whether your surgeon is a shooter or not, best advice will be his/hers , after all he/she was in there, the rest of us were not. | |||
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I am going to guess your over 40 maybe even approaching 50. Your hunt isn't until April. You have plenty of time. This would be the last thing that I would want to rush. I would be overly cautious. How much time do you really need? 90 days to refresh your skills? If it were me. I would wait another 30 days after my 6 week visit, then I would shoot a 22 LR for a week, then I would shoot a 243 Win for a week, and so on... You want to think about risk vs. reward here. What is the down side of shooting your big bore in Oct versus the upside? - a lot of down side, very little upside. What is the down side of starting very light in October and working your way up to shooting your big bore in January? no downside and a lot of upside. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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I had a cervical arthroplasty with disc replacement at C6/C7 and the neurosurgeon told me no big bores for a year. I was shooting ducks with my 12 gauge 5 months after surgery and while I could do it, I likely was pushing it as I was sore in my neck for a few weeks after. Freaked me out a little and consulted back with my physician. He said I likely just overdid it and don't shoot as much for a while. I'm not sure how different fusion is vs. disc replacement therapy, but I was in NO WAY ready to shoot my .458 Lott until a year passed. | |||
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I´ve had fusion och C6-7, v´can´t shoot from prone anymore but recoil is no worse than it was before. First op they put in a prosthetic disc that came that came loose after about two years and laid against my spinal cord -I was not happy. After that they did a classic fusion with plates which has worked well for years. | |||
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Good morning all. At my post op visit last week I was cleared for up to 30-06 in rifle and 20 bore for shotgun. Have not tried either yet but dove season opens this weekend so I plan to give it a go at our place in West Texas. I bought some of the AA light loads. I am a fast healer for the most part. Heck, my scar is barely noticeable and I hit the sixth week this Friday. Doc looked at my x-rays and said I am healing perfectly. He also said no violent sports (contact sports or things such as skiing or mountain biking) for at least 90 days and he will need to look at updated x-rays before clearing me. He listed big bores shooting as a violent sport.  Still no lifting over 30 pounds.I can say that I am glad I did this procedure and it has been years since I have gone without constant neck pain and migraines. I have not had a headache since the surgery. Safe travels.............LL | |||
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As expected from a SFRanger7GP. No big bore rifles until you can do 50 pushups in a minute, cleared by "Doc." Rip ... | |||
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RIP: That is funny!! By the way, killed a few birds this past weekend but I took it easy. I used a 20 bore with light loads. Started feeling a little soreness in my neck so I put the gun away, poured me a G&T and just sat and visited with buddies. Safe shooting...……..L | |||
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Update: we went and she had a ball! I shot a few times (.375 Wby) with only some bruising due to no jacket or PAST. It was very hot during the day around P.E, Eastern Cape, RSA in October. Bumpy rides were no big deal, three months after my surgery. No plans to shoot anymore until colder temps in Texas. Cheers! Barry _______________________ | |||
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Today makes most of 4 months since open heart surgery. Rifle / scope check yesterday -- 11 shots standing bench rest with PAST shoulder pad gave a nasty goose-egg on my shooting shoulder. Iced it twice and it receded. Anyhow, losing twenty pounds plus the muscle atrophy during healing time means I have no meat to speak of in my chest and shoulders. Cardio rehab works, but you need to get meat back before you can resume a former pastime. _______________________ | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Rifles Big Bores how soon after surgery can you shoot the big bores
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