Bowhunting.net
Ask The Hunt Doctors
By Hunt Doctors
Oct 21, 2006, 05:05
Dear Hunt Doctors
This scenario is I'm sure a familiar one you have given advice on in the past. Roughly 1 1/2 mos. ago while lifting weights - specifically shoulder/chest exercises - I noticed my left shoulder felt like I strained it. The pain being centered on the outside of the shoulder, slightly to the rear. Immediately , I stopped lifting and noticed that the pain was there only when I did the "push" type or pressing exercises. Unfortunately, a day or two later when it came time for me to do my back/bicep routine I went ahead and worked out without feeling any pain only a slight discomfort when I did my "pull" exercises. Unfortunately, two days later, my left shoulder felt inflamed and sore to the point that I couldn't raise my left arm from my side with the elbow locked. Of course I stopped all resistance exercises immediately as well as shooting my bow and decided to give it a couple of weeks to heal. Well, as the sad story goes, I still can't even begin to hold my bow out with my left hand. I can lock my elbow and raise my arm, but there is discomfort when I do this. This may sound strange, but when I raise my arm and put pressure with my opposite hand on the spot where the pain is centered, it helps alleviate some of the discomfort. Also, I've had some referred pain down to my elbow and even in my bicep, but nothing major.
It seems that when I think it is getting better that doing the least little thing like carring a plastic bag of groceries in my left hand will seem to aggravate it. Just for some background info. I'm 45 yrs old and am currently taking Naprosen as an antiinflamatory. Any advise would be helpful, as it's only 1 1/2 mos till opening bow season here in Tn. and I would hate to have to use my wife's crossbow. Please advise and thanks in advance.
Ken in Tn
Dear Ken
I ain't got good news for you. You need an MRI of your shoulder. I am very concerned about a rotator cuff tear, which isn't going to heal real quick, if at all by itself. This is not a strain or a bursitis as you describe the symptoms.
The sooner you get this checked out the quicker it can be fixed. DO NOT tempt fate by continuing to see if your injury has healed by "testing the waters" with exercise, be it bow or weights. I wish I could be more positive about your bow season, but in addition to seeing an Ortho doc ASAP, I'd look into that crossbow.
Stephen I Merlin MD Paul AJ Plante MD
Dear Hunt Doctors
Last August, 2005, I slipped on a wet floor and broke my patella into five pieces. My surgeon wired it all back together and after several months of therapy I am able to walk around with a slight limp. The knee and associated muscles continue to be painful after 12 months. The more I walk the more it aches and the more the lower leg swells in the calf region. My Dr. knows about these conditions and reminds me to see him if I have any severe swelling problems.
I bowhunt on public lands and it requires a lot of walking. Should I limit my walking or is it ok to keep stressing the leg to its limits each day. I can climb ladders, stairs and etc. If I sit for prolonged periods, the knee becomes stiff. After walking for a short distance, things limber up significantly. I plan to hunt from a ground blind.
Dee
Dear Dee,
I am sorry for your mishap because I know it certainly has limited your enjoyment of the outdoors and caused you a lot of pain and discomfort especially in the rehab process.
Basically what you have is an Osteoarthritis condition that normally occurs after years of wear and tear as I tell my patients. You just happened to induce it early with the trauma you sustained. Normally what occurs is that after a lengthy rest or seated period of time when you get up the joint is stiff and hurts but after moving about some it limbers up so to speak and the pain subsides. But if you push it beyond the normal activity then it starts to hurt again and swell. The swelling comes from inflammation and what you feel in your calve area is what is commonly referred to as a Baker's Cyst which is a sack that catches the extra fluid of the knee when it swells.
So to your question, first you should be taking a good anti-inflammatory medicine continuously if you tolerate it. Second, you should continue to exercise the joint and push it but just a little past where you start to experience discomfort and slowly build up the time and intensity of the exercises. That will slowly but surely increase your stamina and durability of the joint. If you exercise to the point every time that the whole joint swells up then you are gaining nothing and having to wait till it heals just to start over again. The best exercise for your injury is without a doubt leg extensions.
Lastly, not to make things worse but these type of injuries can take a prolonged time to rehab and that can mean years to get back to normal. So do not get disappointed and give up. We wish you the best with a successful recovery. We hope we have helped you.
I would further suggest that you use a scentless sports cream be applied followed by light stretching prior to your stalking. Even though "scentless" the use of high quality carbon clothing such as Scent Blocker by Robinson Outdoors is strongly suggested.
Dear Hunt Dr.s
I've been diagnosed with Diverticulitis. I've gone through the antibiotics, C Scans, Colonoscopies, etc, and my doctor told me to "Watch what I eat." I've been watching so I don't miss my mouth but honestly, I neglected to ask him what it was I was supposed to watch for. I have no idea what foods I am supposed to not eat. A friend said no leafy vegetables which didn't make sense, and no seeds or nuts which did. I looked it up on the web and found some 'cures' but could not find an actual diet plan. I really don't want to make an appointment to go see my doctor, incur the expense and time away from work so the thought occurred, 'Ask the Hunt Doctors',, so here I am.
Sam in PA
Dear Sam,
First, understand that diverticulosis/itis is very common and occurs because most of our food is processed so all the fiber has been taken out of it. The result is that our colons must squeeze much harder to effectively move the materials. That is where to problem occurs, the wall of the colon is very thin and when exposed to higher pressures little hernias form like little caves jutting out from the colon wall. All that needs to happen is to have some small piece of undigested material get in there and get stuck and now you have an infection start and diverticulitis.
So once you have the problem you must avoid small things that normally do not get totally digested so they can't get stuck in there. Those items would be nuts, corn, seeds and gum if you swallow it. Anything else that gets digested is fine.
Next, to prevent you from forming more and reducing the size of the ones you already have, you have to lower the pressures in the colon. You do that by making it easier for your colon to move the material. It is like trying to catch a greased pig if you ever tried that. It is impossible unless you roll him in sand and now you can hold him. Same principle applies here, you must increase you daily intake of fiber substantially so the work your colon has to do to move material is much easier.
I hope that answers your questions and helps you because the next step is surgery and you do not want to go there.
Sincerely,
Paul Plante
"The Hunt Doctors"
Paul Plante M.D. and Steve Merlin M.D.
www.THEHUNTDOCTORS.com
pajplante@aol.com
© Copyright 2005 by
Bowhunting.net