Got a problem

[Ed Barrett]

I started to fall the a few weeks ago and grabbed a railing on the stairs. My arm and shoulder started hurting right away. It was not getting any better, finally went to see a doctor. e had xrays and an MRI taken, then he said I have a torn rotator cuff. I'm supposed to start therapy this week and if that doesn't help he said surgery was the next step.
Anybody got any info on this from personal experence? My off hand shooting is suffering right now and I can't move my left arm over shoulder height without a lot of pain.

[Buckshot]

.............Ed, sorry to hear about that. I think damage can be done by degree. My daughter loved to play baseball and in her senior year of HS about mid season began to apply a het pad to her shoulder. Mom dragged her off to the Dr, and it was damage to the rotator cuff. X-rays showed it was minor and the RX was to lay off baseball for the year. That's my sum total experience with it.

...............Buckshot

[carpetman]

Ed---My wife was talking to a woman that works at Wal Mart and my wife was having a hard time not laughing. Seems the woman was telling her about her problem with a torn "locator" cuff. So if you are going to have the surgery done at Wal Mart,I'd be selective as to which one does it.

[borderman]

I had a similar problem last year - not the rotator cuff, but bone spurs. If you happen to undergo surgery the surgery itself should be a breeze, at least mine was. Be very patient, it took 6 months for me to get proper painless movement back. I was sure surgery was a mistake but it all paid off. My neighbor is 75 and had rotator cuff surgery last year. He had severe weigh lifting restrictions (5 pounds) for months but he finally healed just fine. His arm was in a sling for a good while but mine wasn't. I had no such weight restrictions but it sure hurt for a long time. Doing the exercises did not seem to help and I was not good about doing them, I'm sure that was a mistake. I never thought I would be able to take my wallet out of my hip pocket again, it seems that is the true test.

[giz189]

Couple of years ago, I had torn rotator cuff and bone spurs. Didn't really want the surgery, but had no other choice. Didn't take long, did it as outpatient. Gave me some drugs and sent me home. Did not send enough drugs. Was very painful for about the first week. After that it was better and a few more months, 4 or 3, and arm was better than new. Just be sure and do the rehab. Also, when doing rehab exercises, it helps to have middle aged lady therapist(about 21-22 yrs old) to guide you. Ha Ha. Good luck on your recovery.

[waksupi]

I had a disagreement with a horse, about when I should get off, and in what position. The horse won, resulting in the bad shoulder, and some cracked ribs. I figured it was a pretty good deal, as the last time before that, I had lost an arguement with a horse on the subject, and I ended up with a broken hip, that still gives me a lot of trouble.

Dumb horses.

Anyway, the right shoulder was pretty much worthless for several months. Not that I could take any work time off, I just had to work through it. I was still shoeing horses back then, and it was a pretty tough job. Fortunately, doing farrier work doesn't call for raising the arms much. But with no insurance, you do what you have to do.

It finally got so it didn't hurt all the time, and I started shooting my old colmpound bow, turned down as low as it would go. I could shoot a few shots a day, and kept working up the numbers. I then started turning the poundage back up, and shooting with fewer arrows again. By the end of the winter tournament season, the rangemaster at league weighed my bow, and I had worked up to 139 pounds of pull. After he told me that, I couldn't shoot worth a damn, and my average dropped off for a couple weeks, until I tuned it down to 95 pounds for the remainder of the season. He kind of thought my bow was putting them down range awful fast, this back in the pre-carbon days. Anymore, I don't know if I could pull 70# with the same bow.

The next summer, I got my back broke logging, but that's another story.

I've known for years, if I would have stayed away from horses, cattle, and logging, I'd be in pretty good shape now.

Oh, yeah, and whiskey n wimmen.

[Ed Barrett]

I see the doctor again Monday, I'll let you guys know ho it goes. Thanks for the advice, and humor.