Fishing related injuries.

[basswipe]

It can happen.I'm right handed and fish spinning reels.Last Thursday night I woke with severe pain in my left elbow and armpit after a massive Vetsday fishing marathon.As the weekend progressed I lost alot of strength and feeling in my left hand.

I could no longer take the pain and went to the doctor today.I have severe Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my left wrist.
I'm a 2 finger typer(now 1 ) and the only repetative use I subject my left wrist to is reeling in plugs.

As of today I will wear a brace on my left arm in the slim hope that this will cure the problem.More than likely it won't and will require surgery.I might not even be able fish next spring.And then there's work.TDI don't cut it.

All I can say is this.....enjoy life now what happened to me can happen to you or worse, like the proverbial "I could get hit by a car tomorrow and die".

[bud8fan]

BW,
Take it from someone who has been through it all!

Carpal Tunnel, pinched radial nerve, re-occuring tennis elbow!

All due to repetitive motion! FISHING!!! It all started about 12 yrs ago when I was FW bass fishing and throwing unweighted sluggo's on a baitcasting rod.

Carpal tunnel surgery about 6yrs ago.
In the past 2 1/2 months I have had surgery #1 to relieve the pinched radial nerve and surgery #2 to clean up the area of my elbow in which the tendons run along the bone to your muscles.


My suggestion is wear the carpal tunnel brace faithfully! Especially when sleeping! Might not be a bad idea to get a tennis elbow aircast also! Sure does limit the amount of pressure put on the elbow.
And most important! Try not to use that wrist to lift too much! Its all about repetition! Which we all do every day of our lives and just dont realize it!

With rest and alot of luck hopefully you wont require the surgery!

PM me if you need a good Dr! Mine is a hand and arm specialist and is well known all over the world.

Good Luck!


Russ

[Nebe]

get well soon baswipe

at least this is happening now at the tail of the season

[Mike P]

Tennis elbow is very common in fishermen, especially if you use a spinning reel, as you tend to turn your wrist on the cast. Years of casting 11' glass sticks did it for me.

I started moving the reel lower on the butt (sold the rods with fixed reel seats that were too high and taped the reel on lower on the sticks without seats). And I no longer use any spinning rods longer than 10'.

[cheferson]

I was just wondering about this today. Ive got sharp pains in my wrist the last couple days and shoulders have been aching. Anymore advice on how to avoid this?

[Rob Rockcrawler]

Chef,
I used to get pains on my shoulders quite a bit after fishing a lot. I would try a differnt posture when i was casting, its seemed to do the trick. I had to quit using spinning tackle last year because of sharp stabbing pains in my wrist, now i use convench bout 90% of the time, i break out the spinning gear early in the year when im throwing real light stuff. It wouldnt suprise me if i have early carpel tunnel, all the pains prety much have gone away since i switched to casting reels, totally different motions.

[tlapinski]

i have been fighting off some severe pain in my left hand since early october. my middle finger will swell up and get super tender after a night of throwing conventional with non-levelwind. it got to the point a couple nights that i couldn't even lift fish with my left hand. probably get it looked at after the season, but for now i have fish to catch!

[RIROCKHOUND]

Yup... blown left shoulder... started in the Gym, but is continually aggravated by casting...started to feel better when I was in Denver... one night and one cold morning since I was back and I'm feeling it again....
I deal, pop an alleve and I'm out the door.. if it doesnt heal by Xmas I'll get it checked, otherwise I'll survive....

[chris L]

both elbows for me .
where a brace .
no surgery yet

[Moses]

Curious, do use spinning or conventional? And are you right handed or left?

I use spinning mostly and for the past month, my left shoulder has been killing me. Sometimes I roll over on it while sleeping and it wakes me up due to pain. Not sure if it was related to casting or the way I used to carry my plug bag.

Originally posted by RIROCKHOUND
Yup... blown left shoulder... started in the Gym, but is continually aggravated by casting...started to feel better when I was in Denver... one night and one cold morning since I was back and I'm feeling it again....
I deal, pop an alleve and I'm out the door.. if it doesnt heal by Xmas I'll get it checked, otherwise I'll survive....

[RIROCKHOUND]

Both Spin and Convench...
It started out as a gym injury (I think, but could have happened anywhere, i noticed it a few months ago) but has stayed chronic but not sharp all season, I find it lessens when I keep my left hand (butt of the rod) closer to my chest...

[In The Surf]

It's elbows for me, had the right one tuned up two years ago. Now it's the left and it's down right nasty. Wearing the preasure wrap to do just about everything now, that along with ice and the stretches and therapy I learned from the right elbow, a few antianflamatories and some pain reliver to keep me going. As long as theres fish to catch it's all worth it. Probably get this one straightened out in January.

[JeffH]

Sad so very sad........TLAP your what all of 25 years old? I get more pains from sitting on my butt all winter!

[Strider]

Fun rotator cuff problem for me. It feels fine and no pain while fishing /casting. However, its later on that I get the nagging pain while just sitting, driving and sleeping. I figure its a partial tear, tendonites and or bursitis. Time to visit the Doc.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Strider; mine may be the same thing (rotator cuff) my old man has a partial tear in his... limits his, but doesnt require surgery... whatever it is it sucks gettin old when your 25....
B

[Slingah]

I hear you Strider...loud and clear
right shoulder is junk..I tore something up this year
seems to be getting a little less sore...I quit fishing early partilly due to the pain and not wanting to do more damage...

[Bronko]

Right Shoulder and right wrist. First time for me with any pain fishing. Started acting up on the ride from Gansett back to Boston on Sunday.

[pops]

there are some simple stretching exercises you can do to ease the muscle
in the shoulder due to rotator cuff tightness.
1]put hand on hip ... rh/rhip etc... then reach over with the other free hand and gently pull the elbow forward this will stretch a small muscle in the shoulder blade that gets tight doing this action "fishing"
it can also be done putting the back of the wrist on the hip to aid the reaching pulling bit.
for the elbow try holding a broomstick by the end and keeping your arm straight try to imagine tapping someone anything with the other end held high in the air then forward and bcak up...
slowly stretching the forearm muscles etc... these need stretching as well
...when they get tight you feel pain that sometimes is easy to remedy...
20yrs of martial arts training and personal training have given me some simple remedies to awkward muscles. Ive felt the same " twinges" but
after showing them to others its like a MIRACLE [not] you just have to
remember that all muscle tighten up and need STRETCHING.
body builders need to lengthen the muscles after working out otherwise they get all kinds off syndromes as well....
check out some simple stretching exercises for rotators ....upper traps'
biceps... etc... only takes 15 min max and it will save you in the long run
I went flyfishing for a week last month and felt like my arm was going to fall off . The elbow joint felt tight so i did the broom handle thing for a few days ,now nothing not even a "twinge" the rotators and traps just the hip reach etc... 45 and going strong. good luck

last word , the best time to stretch is after the action has been done
and dont bounce the muscle ,hold and breath gently to the limit of the range of motion then gently increasing the motion and holding.
there are more advanced but just as simple stretches to do
with acronyms such as
CRAC contract relax agonist relax
PNF proprioseptive neuromuscular facilitation

once you understand these you can apply to the whole body.

good book "athletic ability & the anatomy of motion "
profeser rolf wirhed
isbn 0 72342643 0
second edition
easy to follow stretches and exercises

[HESH2]

RIGHT ELBOW ACTS UPS BUT AFER WINTER SHOULD BE OK.HAD SEVERE PAIN IN LEFT FOOT TOES AFTER STANDING IN WADERS WAIST DEEP WATER AFTER 2 HRS OF FISHING.THIS KEPT HAPPENING AND AFTER TRYING DIFFERENT WADERS ETC FINALLY WENT TO FOOT DR.HAD OPERATION THIS PAST SPRING BEFORE FISHING SEASON TO REMOVE 2 BEIGN GROWTHS BETWEEN TOES THAT WOULD PRESS ON NERVES WHEN WATER PRESSURE GOT TO THEM.NO PAIN THIS YEAR FINALLY.

[Mr. Sandman]

I thought I was in pain alone...guess not.

I have to say that the extreme pain in my sholder went away mostly when I got lighter gear. If you use old heavy stuff you will have less pain in your back-sholder-neck area.
That said my hand was "falling asleep" this year but I think it might have been from that aquaskinz jacket and its snug fit.

Bottom line...I need to loose some weight (after the holidays of course )

[basswipe]

After CRUSHING my right Humorous(upper right arm) and about 20 other bones I know about PAIN.Carpal Tunnel is very painful.

Me being me,I've seen bass schooling up the last 3 days and I couldn't help helpself.Now my left wrist is truly a mess even while having it splinted.

My 'ol lady's gonna KILL me.

[kippy]

Sounds like we need to open an infirmary ward here at SB..my back bothers me after fishing for a few hours and I pulled a muscle in my leg this year as well..falling apart at 26.