Rotator Cuff...How long before y'all drew a bow back?

[highspeed]

Had mine done back in April and I'm having withdrawals of not being able to shoot my bow. Mine was only a partial tear but I haven't even been released to lift any weight yet. Just wondering what to expect from others who have had this surgery done. I'm also kicking around the idea of getting a 50-60 lb bow to ease back in when I am able to shoot

[Graysonhogs]

Full recovery can be up to a year.

[bboswell]

No way for anyone here to answer that question, there are far too many variables in rotator cuff surgery. Is it just clean up some rough spots or is it torn requiring sutures etc or somewhere in between?

[highspeed]

No way for anyone here to answer that question, there are far too many variables in rotator cuff surgery. Is it just clean up some rough spots or is it torn requiring sutures etc or somewhere in between?

I understand what you're saying. Mine was a partial tear due to bone spurs. They put an implant in and attached the tendon to it. I know i can't shoot til the doc says so. I was just wondering what other guys experience was.

[Pernell]

mine was a complete tear, had surgery in May, I was elk hunting in September

[Aggiehunter08]

No advice but hope you heal quick and can get back into it. Worse case buy an x-bow. That’s better than missing bow season.

[stinkbelly]

2 years for me. I had it done and during physical therapy they tore a different tendon. I went under the knife almost exactly 1 year later. It took a year after that to shot.

When I did the other side it wasn't as long. Everyone heals differently. I am slow. During my down time, I picked up one of those rifles that shoots arrows. It sucked, but I guess it was better than nothing.

[AntlerCollector]

My right shoulder took 6 months. My left one was about 14 months

[Twist]

I blew out my left (brace arm) shoulder being stupid when I was 19 or 20, never had anything done about it.

That shoulder would scream at me when I first got back into shooting several years back so I went looking and stumbled onto this:

https://www.scheels.com/p/prairie-innovators-bow-trainer/79830407015.html?cq_cmp=20597724847&cq_med=pla&cq_ net=x&cq_plt=gp&cq_src=google_ads&gad_source=1&gcl id=Cj0KCQjw7ZO0BhDYARIsAFttkCibZAI1ZISJxvsIJL_fW5F UvzgHavmGLGYjUukZpF4303EhDUeOQhgaAuNOEALw_wcB&pgid =psearch&src=hardlines

It did wonders with being able to work lower weight to begin building strength up and also some range of motion. I forget the exact weight of the bands but the outside longer one is the lowest weight and the short inside is the highest. They can also be pulled in pairs for kind of incremental increases. Drawing with my left instead of my right and holding the bar at different angles also helped out.

Oh, word of warning. If you do get one of these, make sure you have some lighter duty gloves. The resistance bands on mine were doing a number on my fingers with how much I was using it.

[Bucknaked]

My right shoulder took 6 months. My left one was about 14 months

It you’re Old !

both of mine were torn in 2006 at the same time! I continued to work because I was putting 2 kids through college! Swinging 16 pd hammers , climbing ladder cages on tall vessels, carrying outrigger pads for cranes and handling heavy rigging most every day and multiple times! I had no choice but then that’s how we worked. I must have torn my right one worse or broken some scar tissue last week because that rascal hurts! Climbing in and out of my truck, up into and down off of my tractor I have to be very careful as to how I position myself. I am very blessed that I have been able to continue with out surgery all of these years but I fear that this may be the time that I will have to have the surgical repair. It’s strange but I can still draw my bow back with it only hurting the worst just before break over - I’d rate that point at a 7-8 in pain with a high terence For pain . I’m praying that I can make it through deer season and then having the procedure done in the second week of January to maybe be recovered enough to start shooting at 50 lbs then to get to at least 65 lbs by oct. 1st! I’ll have too miss a whole lot of hunting during that time but it is what it is.

[Mudslinger]

Bone spur on top of my left rotator cuff. Cut everything so 4 incisions and 4 anchors later, it was fixed. November 2020 and could not try to draw my bow until August 2021. Had to drop my draw weight from 70 to 60! I followed EVERY recommendation from my surgeon for rehab!

[1riot1ranger]

mine is different - 4 tendons reattached and a tear repaired due to a fall. Doc says recovery will be a year and I'm in month 6. Still can't lift any weights extended out from body. Doc says no PT because risk of re-injury is too high. Instead of PT doing progressively stronger stretch bands. Range of motion is mostly returned, just working on strength conditioning. Doc said I should be able to use a rifle by November but don't see a bow this year.

[rolylane6]

My right one, I was shooting 6 months later.
My left one, done last Sept., I'm still not even able to draw 9 months later.

Both had complete tears but my left one was much worse. I just can't seem to get the strength back in it and it's still painful to lift out front. It actually has gotten worse in the last month it seems. I guess it's time to go see doc again. May have to get PT start up again.

[The Gipper]

I had rotator cuff and tore bicep (right shoulder/arm), surgery done Dec 2013. I talked to my PT about how long it would take to draw back a bow which he said he did not know no one had asked that before, but he would look into it. . Anyway I had a exotic hunt scheduled for late Feb 2014. I did not touch my bow until probably mid way through Feb but was able to shoot it ok. I will say once I got the bow drawn back I was shooting it there was no letting down. Did not kill any exotics on the hunt did shoot a hog. Haven't had any problems with my shoulder since.

[32drawlength]

mine was a complete tear, had surgery in May, I was elk hunting in September

Very similar to this timeline…do the PT! Don’t skimp, you can recover so much quicker