Casting Shoulder

[bassguytom]

When I fish 2 or 3 days in a row my shoulder starts to hurt. If I don’t fish for a week or so it goes away for the most part. Anyone else have this? Sometimes it’s really bad to the point I think I need surgery. I guess it’s only going to get worse as I get older.

[Hammer 4]

I'm guessing your doing overhand cast's..Maybe try casting side arm..?

[lo n slo]

you don’t want shoulder surgery 

[LCG]

I would recommend trying to keep your elbows tucked in and next to your body when casting. And don't try to cast a mile, light cast can go plenty far. 

[N Florida Mike]

I have problems with mine when using heavier casting gear( Like my frog rod ). It hurts less with lighter casting gear, and doesn’t hurt at all with spinning.

[MickD]

Sounds like rotator cuff.  I have two bad ones, but can still fish pretty well.  I find that two handed casts and not trying for exceptional distance helps me.  Everyone is different, the joint is very complex, so yours could be much different than mine.

 

Try to keep in shape, don't do any heavy weight lifting, but exercise with light rubber exercise bands and light weights like a quart water bottle most likely will help.

 

 

The best advice will come from a doctor.  Good orthos can tell you which element of the joint is acting up just by having you do a few simple tests in the office.  Then for the exact analysis of the damage, an MRI is necessary.

 

They can change surprisingly fast.  I was thinking of surgery earlier this year, then my pain reduced a lot and surgery is no longer contemplated.  

 

 

[NHBull]

I have had my right shoulder reconstructed and both of them hurt after a couple days.  I video taped myself and found that while fishing I was raising my shoulders instead of dropping them naturally and relaxing the RC.  Relaxing you shoulders even while reeling will help.

Advil before and after also helps.

[Paul Roberts]

Have it checked out. I have had a few old man issues from fishing. Most lately, a potential rotator cuff. I'm being careful there. As you say, we don't want the downtime involved in surgery. For you younger folks... just don't go there, if you can help it.

[WRB]

Rotator cuff pain is caused by inflammation usually a result of bone spurs and arthritis.

Simple over the counter Advil reduces inflammation pain. If you ignor the pain long enough arthroscopic surgery is needed to polish the bone or repair the tendon.

Both my shoulders have had surgery from years of abuse and neglect, I learned the hard way.

Tom

[MickD]

Rotator cuff pain is also caused by actual tears of the components of the rotator cuff, like the infra and supraspinatus.  No antiinflammatory or pain reliever is going to fix them.  

 

Rather than get info from the internet (it's not always true) it's best to just go to a doctor.

[DanielG]

My shoulders are great. It's my knees that are more of an issue. I'm glad about that for casting but My boat is 32 steps down and up from door to water. So, I can cast okay but getting to it is more of my issue.

This getting older thing is for the birds.

[WRB]

1 hour ago, MickD said:

Rotator cuff pain is also caused by actual tears of the components of the rotator cuff, like the infra and supraspinatus.  No antiinflammatory or pain reliever is going to fix them.  

 

Rather than get info from the internet (it's not always true) it's best to just go to a doctor.

While I agree it's always a good plan to get a doctors advice with any medical condition my experience, depending on your insurance coverage, a GP isn't going to do anything based on some pain after fishing 3 days. Bursitis is used most of the time to define the cause of shoulder pain from continuos repeated motion.

You shouldn't have much shoulder motion when casting properly, it's elbow and wrist motion.

My problem wasn't from fishing, It was my youth as a gymnast followed by aging and bone spurs. Now the rotator cuff tendons are held together with screws and Kevlar. 

Don't ignor the pain.

Tom

[A-Jay]

I'm 60 and my shoulders are good.

And I do what I can to keep them that way.

A-Jay

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, A-Jay said:

I'm 60 and my shoulders are good.

And I do what I can to keep them that way.

Closing in on 60 myself and while I don't go 'whole-hog' like @A-Jay does, I do work with lighter weights regularly.

 

Also, side-arm casting is much less prone to aggravating the shoulders...I get 30-40 yd casts regularly tossing sidearm.

[papajoe222]

I've been dealing with this issue for over 15 years and it doesn't take three days for my shoulder to flare up, more like three hours.

I use a roll cast 75% of the time and don't pitch at all. If I can't reach a spot by flipping, I back off and cast to the spot.

I do a couple of things to prolong my time on the water. First off I take three Ibuprofen prior to an outing. second I limit the amount of cranking I do because that is the one time I always use an overhand cast.

Once off the water, I rub a CBD cream on the area if it's bothering me.

I know it seems like a lot to go through, but There's no way I'm giving up fishing and I sure as heck amNOT GETTING SURGERY.

I suggest you do see a doctor, though. Physical therapy to strengthen the supporting muscles and a light exercise routine could keep you fishing for a long time.

[JustJames]

I only have this problem when using spinning outfit and mostly overhead cast with whipping action. As of now my whole right arm is pretty sore from only hour and a half of fishing. 

On casting gear, I can do all kinds of cast overhead, side arm, black hand or even cast with my left hand, I can fish for hours and hours and never have any problem.

[Sam]

Ask your family physician about what is going on and follow his/her advice.

 

Stretch before going out.

 

Try to find a sports medicine practice and get a consultation regarding specific exercises that will help alleviate the problem. Maybe Hahnamann ,Doylestown, Temple, Penn, or Jefferson have a sports medicine practice and they can help you.

 

Call the local Philly colleges or universities' athletics department for a few sports medicine doctors or practices names. I am sure Temple, Drexel, St. Joe's, Delaware, Penn, etc. will be happy to give you names of sports medicine practices or physicians that can help you with your problem. You may find them on the universities' Internet sites for specific sports like football, basketball, and baseball.

 

Check out if the doctors want to put you in Physical Therapy to get started on your treatment.

 

You need specialized treatment including stretching and changes in the way you cast to avoid doing additional damage to your shoulder.

 

All the best for a speedy recovery and many, many more years of pain free fishing.

 

 

 

[MassYak85]

16 hours ago, LCG said:

I would recommend trying to keep your elbows tucked in and next to your body when casting. And don't try to cast a mile, light cast can go plenty far. 

This. Some of the swimbait guys have more of a twisting cast where you're using your core muscles more to take the burden off your shoulders and arms. 

[Ratherbfishing]

By halfway through any given fishing trip, my shoulders are killing me-especially my left one.  It's a combination of torn rotator cuff and arthritis. I try to stay ahead of the pain by taking ibuprofen and rolling my shoulders often to keep them limber.  For me, it's not the casting but the holding of my arms/shoulders in the same position too long. 

[NHBull]

14 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I'm 60 and my shoulders are good.

And I do what I can to keep them that way.

A-Jay

@A-Jay for the WIN

 

I was wondering how long it was going to take you to chime in. ???

[GreenPig]

Since I started training one arm pullups I've had no shoulder pain from fishing.?

[WRB]

PT is good after the damage is repaired. Arthoscopic surgery is simple and fast recovery,  waiting too long may require more extensive surgery to repair the damage, I know!

I would have a doctor prescribe treatment, self dialogists isn't a good plan.

Tom

[Sam]

6 minutes ago, WRB said:

PT is good after the damage is repaired. Orthoscopic surgery is simple and fast recovery,  waiting too long may require more extensive surgery to repair the damage, I know!

I would have a doctor prescribe treatment, self dialogists isn't a good plan.

Tom

X2.

 

Self-diagnosis is very dangerous.

 

My cousin, "Leonard the Doctor," a very well known internist in New Orleans, contracted pancreatic cancer and died in six months after he was diagnosed. And finding cancers and other ailments was his specialty.

[ClackerBuzz]

On 8/22/2019 at 2:42 PM, LCG said:

I would recommend trying to keep your elbows tucked in and next to your body when casting. And don't try to cast a mile, light cast can go plenty far. 

This.  Not trying to cast a mile will allow you to open up ur brakes and cast much farther with far less force.  I know when I cheat when casting b/c I'm punished with backlashes and a sore shoulder. 

 

Also get over the mental worry that ur going to hook the back of ur head if you keep a tight casting radius.  We tend to swing our rod far away from our body so we don't hook ourselves in the back.  It's nearly impossible to do even with ur elbows tucked tight against body.  

 

 

[Shimano_1]

Mine will get this way if I dont do much the week in between.  I lift a lot at my job so if I'm doin my regular routine I'm fine. I think it just gets stiff if I dont work it out frequently. If I take a few days off and just lounge then go fish hard for even a full day my shoulder and elbow get sore. From what I've seen with my buddies having shoulder surgeries I'll deal with it all as long as possible before I'd consider surgery