coming back to shooting after upper body surgery

I managed to destroy my left collarbone while skiing over christmas break. It was bad enough that the ortho recommended surgery (broke in 2 places, plus some displacement). Now I am sitting at home recovering from that surgery and getting ready for outpatient PT soon. Arm is already out of the sling but not allowed to be weight bearing.

Who here has had upper body surgery and how has it affected your ability to shoot? Should I discuss anything in particular with my PT? Any special exercises you've done to help regain strength in affected areas?

I was shot in my strong side, right elbow. Once I was cleared for full duty/physical activity, swimming (mainly free style) at my own pace made everything easy. So long as you're cleared, I wouldn't worry about shooting but rather muscular recovery doing the exercises of your choice.

Talk to your physical therapist about it and see what they recommend. IME they're really cool with active patients who want to get back to doing things.

I had shoulder surgery. I asked my doc early on about shooting and he let me shoot pistol about 4 weeks earlier than a rifle.

Best advice I ever got was DO THE PT!!

I recovered really fast and my right arm has about 5-10% less flexibility than before surgery and I attribute that to doing therapy every single day and the stretches 3x a day like they recommended. I have some guys I work with who can barely put their arm behind their backs and it's because they slacked on pt.

Don't rush it. Shooting will always be there later on.

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Originally Posted by shootist26

I managed to destroy my left collarbone while skiing over christmas break. It was bad enough that the ortho recommended surgery (broke in 2 places, plus some displacement). Now I am sitting at home recovering from that surgery and getting ready for outpatient PT soon. Arm is already out of the sling but not allowed to be weight bearing.

Who here has had upper body surgery and how has it affected your ability to shoot? Should I discuss anything in particular with my PT? Any special exercises you've done to help regain strength in affected areas?

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That's so weird. My uncle had that exact injury from skiing over Christmas, and can't even go to work for a while.

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Originally Posted by 1776United

I had shoulder surgery. I asked my doc early on about shooting and he let me shoot pistol about 4 weeks earlier than a rifle.

Best advice I ever got was DO THE PT!!

I recovered really fast and my right arm has about 5-10% less flexibility than before surgery and I attribute that to doing therapy every single day and the stretches 3x a day like they recommended. I have some guys I work with who can barely put their arm behind their backs and it's because they slacked on pt.

Don't rush it. Shooting will always be there later on.

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yea I'm doing all the exercises that my PT gave me during my initial in-home visit

I truly wasn't impressed with the PT, but I did it.

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Originally Posted by Hambo

Talk to your physical therapist about it and see what they recommend. IME they're really cool with active patients who want to get back to doing things.

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Well, I'm an outpatient/ortho PT so I agree with Hambo. We do like working with motivated patients and.... we're cool!

In all seriousness. Speak with your ortho and ask who he likes to send his sports medicine patients to. It may not be the closest, but clinics, like people, have personalities. Some see a lot of older sedentary clients. Some a lot of workers comp/attorney neck and back stuff. Some (like ours) see a lot of athletes and post op ortho rehabs. You need to go to a clinic who sees active people and an lot of ortho rehab.

Last thought. Your shoulder doesn't work in isolation. Your neck may be stiff and tight. Your scapula probably needs work and of course as everyone will tell you it's all is based on "core" stability and strength. Make sure your PT is looking at the big picture.

One handed shooting is going to be a main issue. I had minor neck surgery last fall and am still struggling a bit. Show your PT what you need to do as a shooter as rehab progresses and you will get there.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Slalom.45

In all seriousness. Speak with your ortho and ask who he likes to send his sports medicine patients to. It may not be the closest, but clinics, like people, have personalities. Some see a lot of older sedentary clients. Some a lot of workers comp/attorney neck and back stuff. Some (like ours) see a lot of athletes and post op ortho rehabs. You need to go to a clinic who sees active people and an lot of ortho rehab.

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good advice. thanks

Ask your surgeon about which physical therapist to use. I went through 4 before I found a great one for me Lots of patients are elderly or have sedentary jobs so their needs are different. I'm bigger than the average bear so I needed a bigger therapist. I had some nice lady PTs but working on me was hard on them and not successful for me. I finally ended up with the head PT at the clinic. I told him I didn't care what he did; sacrifice a chicken. Whatever he had to but fix me. It hurt. A lot. But I think I am better because of it. Age also is a big part of healing. 25 vs 45 is no joke
As for shooting- don't rush anything. You'll know when can. Just don't jump back in were you were and you should be fine. Lots of doctors don't have any idea of shooting or sports needs

I've broken 3 collarbones over a couple decades racing & riding bicycles (2 right, 1 left). Everything you're hearing above is correct.

Once you're cleared for more aggressive workouts the more pushups, shoulder exercises and even pull ups you can do the better you'll be.

Just beating on the point to make the point: If you have a good ortho (one who enthusiastically works with motivated patients, and most do) and s/he matches you with an equally good therapist, they can provide you with with PT that helps you generally recover quickly, and also with any specific therapies that might enhance your shooting (everything from grip strength, to draw stroke, to extension, etc.).

Just visited my ortho today, after doing battle with a big limb that didn't want to surrender. Shoulder pain, but fortunately not rotator cuff. Seems after your mid-60s, body parts are not as limber as they once were. Who would have guessed . . .

The quickest way to get back on the horse is to do it right the first time and fully recovery. Getting on and falling off, with the same re-injury or making it worse, takes a lot longer to recover from. I have a pretty extensive history of making things worse by not fully recovering and using cortisone shots to mask problems.

Shooting a .22 pistol or revolver with the right hand shouldn't be an issue for your left collarbone.

I've had multiple surgeries to hands/wrists/shoulders/elbows in the last couple of decades. Most successful recovery was when I was young and dumb (duh). As I got older, it has taken longer and required more focus to recover. Last shoulder surgery after a year of the "same old" plan not working, I ended up at a therapist who specializes in athletes - he dealt with all the pro football and baseball players in the town where I was posted. In under 6 weeks I was not only back in business, but stronger and more flexible than before my surgery.

It wasn't a miracle, it was science, applied by someone used to working on and with athletes.