Anyone else hurt their shoulder?

MEJ

MEJ

Joined
Jul 24, 2011
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I developed tendonitis in my shoulder last summer, when i decided to throw the big CS throwers at around 20 feet with-ought warming up.
After a good solid 8 months with 3 months of physical therapy i went back to try again but my shoulder seems like it is grinding and popping every throw. I just want to get back to throwing, Has anyone else experienced this? (im not old so that is not the problem)
 
over head throwing motions are just anatomically hard on the shoulder rotator cuff muscles. Tennis serving, swimming and pitching are all hard wear and tear activities similar to knife throwing motions. You can try to adjust your throwing form to put less strain on the injured rotator cuff muscle --the most common injuries are to the supraspinatus or possibly the biceps tendon. A more horizontal throwing angle with less overhead motion will put less strain on those structures.
 
About 10 years ago I had a rotator cuff injury that caused severe pain and the "popping" noises you describe. It happened when I attempted to bench press too much weight. I was in so much pain I couldn't even sleep on my left side in bed.

The surgeon gave me some cortisone injections but it gave me only temporary relief. He talked about surgery and taking a piece of bone out etc., etc.

I asked him if it was safe to try to rehabilitate my shoulder by bench pressing light weights since I was hard headed about my exercise routine. Sounds counter-intuitive, right? Especially since bench pressing caused the injury. To my utter surprise he said go ahead!

So, after about a year of this type of physical therapy (with a popping noise everytime I raised and lowered the weight) my shoulder slowly healed. Today my shoulder is virtually perfect. No pain, no disability, no more popping noises and I am so glad I didn't go for the surgery.

I'm not saying proper exercise or physical therapy is the solution for everybody but just that it worked for me.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
 
Sorry about the injury. I have not yet had that misfortune (apart from a little soreness every now and then). One thing that might help is adding more wrist flick. You mentioned you threw from 20 ft ( I am assuming you use a rotational style). This is a far distance so you probably had to throw the knife fairly hard thus injuring your shoulder. I know there are a lot of guys that say "no" to wrist flick but if you can flick it consistently it will take a lot of stress of your shoulder and add a more naturual movement to the throw which should help accuracy. Also flicking your wrist can allow you to get closer to the target which may or may not be one of your goals. If getting closer is undesirable just tightent your grip on the knife this should slow it down. I also throw (and love) the big CS throwers, and they are heavy but this actually can be a good thing because a heavier knife will do most of the work. Hope this helps and Godspeed on the recovery.
 
Only way to tell what's going on with your shoulder is an MRI. If you have a labial tear (common athletic injury in baseball players) it won't heal on it's own. Impingment syndrome has a similar presentation. Steroid injections can do wonders for SOME injuries but can make others worse. I advise you see an Orthopod and the two of you can decide on the best managment.
 
I had a rotator cuff tear. I'm 45, and believe I did it playing baseball with my 2 boys. Had a few injections to get by. But eventually, went ahead with the surgery (last June). It isn't fun, nor is the therapy after, but in my case it did wonders. My shoulder ached so bad I couldn't sleep before. Agree with previous posts that the MRI is how you find out what's going on in there.
 
I am an MMA fighter i have had every injury you can think of outside a bone break knock on wood. I Have torn my rotator cuff and my MCL and both healed without surgery. Anyway first ice whenever your watching tv or doing nothing. Warm it up before you throw. Make sure to do your physical therapy homework. I always take fish oil and shark cartilage everyday for these kind of injuries. But like the others said use a little less shoulder in your throw follow through more. Maybe throw something lighter for a while.
Hope you get better
_DyLAN
 
Ahoy,
1st time posting in the throwing forum. I'm 2.5 weeks post op to reattach my supraspinatus, relocate the short head of my bicep and dremmel off the quartz looking bone spur on the acromium. It blows to say the least. The spur shredded my shoulder. I'll tell you that if it's bothering you, go get it looked at a couple different ways. Don't let it get bad enough to become surgical.

Jeff
 
dylan_kowalski said:
I am an MMA fighter i have had every injury you can think of outside a bone break knock on wood. I Have torn my rotator cuff and my MCL and both healed without surgery. Anyway first ice whenever your watching tv or doing nothing. Warm it up before you throw. Make sure to do your physical therapy homework. I always take fish oil and shark cartilage everyday for these kind of injuries. But like the others said use a little less shoulder in your throw follow through more. Maybe throw something lighter for a while.
Hope you get better
_DyLAN
Click to expand...
I concur very strongly with this. Even if you aren't injured I think both of those supplements are extremely beneficial to take. If shark cartilage is not available one can use Glucosamine for the same purpose.
 
I actually threw my back out throwing knives once. I only felt a pinch at the time, but by the morning, I couldn't get out of bed to go to work. I was only 23 when that happened.
 
I actually had my shoulder replaced a few years ago. It began while I was competing in Strongman, lifting heavy stones and pressing them overhead. After two years of rehab, I'm able to throw.

Here's why I say that: I've become quite the student of anatomy and physiology since then. My shoulder wasn't "injured." I found out that I had a disease called Avascular Necrosis in every joint, and it stemmed from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis which I thought had gone into remission forever. It reared it's head at the very end of my Army career thank goodness. Anyway, I've always ached and hurt more than other folks, living off of Tylenol and Ibuprofen and thinking that was the way it was. I pitched in high school and always hurt.

OK, OK...I'm getting there. Anyway, repetitive throwing will, over time, wear your joints down. "Over time" may mean ten years, or it could be seventy years. Do you know what determines that? Technique and correct throwing form.

If you are still hurting, continue to rehab under the care of a Sport's PT. They will better understand your wants and needs. They will teach you how to tweak your throwing form to do the least amount of wear and tear on the joint, especially the injury that you have. Chances are, over time, you've developed a comfortable yet incorrect throwing form that strains your ligaments, tendons, and muscle. Correct it, and your shoulder will last. I am proof that it can be done!

Also, I always warm up and stretch before a throwing session. That will save your shoulder too.

I've probably said more than what you wanted to hear, but maybe it'll help you. I hope my hard journey will make someone else's easier.
 
Agreeing with digdeep and 10thMtn: The right exercises can get your shoulder well again!

I had the usual story: not warming up for a TV filming session, doing force throws on the cameras demand. Shoulder hurts like hell the next day. Cortison shots. Pain only goes away for good when I get to a therapist who shows me how to strengthen all my shoulder (and back) muscles.

Good road to recovery!
 
KnifeThrowing said:
Agreeing with digdeep and 10thMtn: The right exercises can get your shoulder well again!

I had the usual story: not warming up for a TV filming session, doing force throws on the cameras demand. Shoulder hurts like hell the next day. Cortison shots. Pain only goes away for good when I get to a therapist who shows me how to strengthen all my shoulder (and back) muscles.

Good road to recovery!
Click to expand...

Great story! You're experienced enough to know this, but for anyone younger out there, be careful with those cortisone shots. They do help temporarily, but too many of them will cause the head of the bone (ball socket) to die via Avascular Necrosis. This is why lots of older throwers have had joint replacement in their older years. It wasn't the wear and tear. It was too many cortisone shots.
 
Tendon tears like rotator cuff injuries take a long time to heal, and even after they do heal they can still become inflamed easily afterwards. Expect a full recovery period of about 2 years. Glucosamine, flax oil, fish oil, and lots of tendon meat are the best supplements to speed recovery.
 
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