Archery and arthritis. Battling on.

[Timid Toad]

I have arthritis. Lots of it. All bog standard osteo- I've just worn out cartilage all over the place and it definitely affects my archery.

I have had two half knee replacements (Oxford implants) which are now 6 and 4 years old respectively and work wonderfully well. My neck is a bit iffy, shoulders could be better but hands, particularly the base of my left thumb (I'm a right handed archer) has been seriously problematic.

Of course, good alignment puts the load of my bow straight through the trapeziometacarpal joint. I had reduced bow weight from 45 to 36lbs, which helped for a year or two. RCore made me an amazingly good ergonomic bowgrip at no extra charge that has been fantastic.

But after a year of sitting about harrumphing on a waiting list, over Christmas I got a call to coming in at the start of January to take up a cancellation and get a trapeziometacarpal arthroplasty. Hope you like the pic of my new piece of titanium. It's early days yet. After 6 weeks I have only 20% of the strength of my other hand (and that is weakened by arthritis too). I also can't take pressure into the palm yet. But I have a good range of movement, the discomfort is from the surgery not the implant or arthritis, and at Easter I'll be picking up a light set of limbs to start training again.

 

[dvd8n]

Good luck with your recovery. Loads of archers that I know have made good recoveries from these kinds of surgeries (and others for that matter).

Light limbs are your friends at this time.

D

 

[mbaker74]

Hope you get back to enjoying your archery again soon TT, medical science is amazing now with what they can replace.... And how your body heals and accepts these new bits

 

[albatross]

I feel your pain being a sufferer of osteoarthritis myself. Mine is causing scoliosis resulting in limited movement of lower back and neck. I am way too old for surgery - even if it was offered - not much chance of that in the current NHS climate. All we can do is 'try and modify out technique' and soldier on taking pain killers. I am glad they introduced the 50+ classification.

 

[StevoNilo]

Hey TT.. all the best.. I'm sure you'll still enjoy shooting whilst recovering. 45lbs was quite a weight to deal with and maintain. Have a read about interval fasting, and it's effects on inflammation. Best wishes..

 

[Timid Toad]

I'm back shooting. It's a joy.
I have 27lb limbs. They are really great for my implant. But terrible for my loose, shoulder alignment and back tension!
So I have a compromise. Every day I shoot 2 dozen with the 27lb limbs, then I switch to my 36lb setup, and shoot as many pain free, perfectly aligned, nicely loosed, overthought arrows as I can. Currently thats around 5-6. As soon as I start to lose alignment or a hint of discomfort creeps in I stop. If I mess the implant up I'll need further surgery and may not be able to shoot at all, ever so no messing about.
Bearing in mind this is about a week in after 3 months off and pretty radical surgery, I'm quite happy with that. I see my surgeon this week. Hopefully he won't be too annoyed!