Aches and Pains

[NoShoes]

I’ve had multiple tears in my right shoulder and multiple dislocations / multiple separations in my left. 
 

i just turned 30 but my left shoulder is already telling me when to go fish when a front moves in

[TnRiver46]

Knock on wood, praise be, I can still sit in my old aluminum canoe from sunrise to sunset on the longest day of the year. That’s bound to change soon but I may as well enjoy it while I can. I am a big fan of stretching, though I don’t stretch often enough. I wish I could hang upside down and un-kink my spine. i knew exactly what @GreenPig meant by “days when i could stand up straight” earlier. The days when my back hurts I can look in the mirror and see how crooked I’m standing, and I can’t correct it no matter what I try. Then next day it’s straight again??? 

[cyclops2]

I just finished removing 10 bags of wet Pine Bark Nuggets From Lowe's & Home Depot. BECAUSE !!!!

 

We have had a end to a long storm front.

So I could go out fishing.  If the fish were in their spring time places.  Wife is affected by same weather pains.  2 knees to be replaced in the coming fall. Talk about a real gamble ?  Most people say only 1 of 2 knee joints was  worth the risk.

 

I am looking forward to the first boating get together. There are some fantastic people we volunteer with at events.

[Mike L]

After 2 spinal fusions I can’t really stand, sit or lay down for extended periods of time. When Mrs Mike and I go some place where we have to stand in a line, I have to sit and wait for her to call me up. 
 

Fishing is really tough sometimes. 
Standing and trying to balance for 8 hrs is a killer. 

 

 

 

Mike

[Dwight Hottle]

I'm 74 but have been blessed with good genetics. The secret for me to be able to fish all day long has been staying active with a regular exercise plan & maintaining good balance. I still have my share of aches & pain but the pleasure of fishing still motivates me.  

[throttleplate]

I am staring at my 10th joint operation, mri coming soon on my 2x operated shoulder.

An old slap labrum tear being tormented by the long head biceps tendon that attatches to the slap tear. Biceps tendon tests as torn or frayed badly.

May get a tenotomy wher they just cut the biceps tendon off at the labrum slap tear and let the tendon slide down into the humeral head wher it will get stuck and reattach itself with scar tissue.

Or get a tenodesis wher the same cut is done to biceps tendon but then reattached with a screw onto the humeral head.

 

[cyclops2]

For all of us with limited abilities to fish.  Standing

 

 Either BUY a boat  big enough. Like a Bow Rider Hull.  Or get a boat with a .....Flip Up Bolster Seat.  Then you can cast stand or sit down while trolling around in the boat.  The SUPER comfortable Bolster Seat is what is needed for any of us in pain.

 

  We are worth it.        

Do a web search of Bolster Seat   It has a front piece that allows you to sit about  8" higher than the full seat cushion height.

[deaknh03]

22 hours ago, A-Jay said:

I retired a while ago from what could be considered a fairly physically demanding job.

At 62 I have my fair share of aches & pain and my overall capacity & daily endurance is no where near what it used to be. These things definitely effect my fishing, especially the long drives home.

 

But I do a few things that I believe have helped quite a bit:

Getting regular physically demanding exercise several days a week, 

helps my balance, mobility & confidence. 

Keeping my body lean - takes some of the load off my joints and gives gravity less to work with.

And finally, I focus on, and am grateful for, the things I can still do, instead of what I can not. 

Going fishing tomorrow and I'm pretty excited.

A-Jay

 

 

Yep, its the long car rides that get me

[Woody B]

58 year old automotive technician, woodworker, guitar player.  My hands hurt in the morning but stretching takes care of that.  (so far).  I've got a partial tear in my right shoulder, and a recurring pinched nerve in my neck that causes pain in my left arm.   Over the past year ice and physical therapy have helped my shoulder a bunch.   My neck nerve is aggravated by leaning my head back, looking up while working under cars.  I've helped that a bunch by using different glasses when I'm working under a car.   (not leaning way back to look through my bi focals.  

 

So for fishing I always used rods with a short grip and cast with my right arm.  Now this hurts my shoulder.   Using rods with long grips, and casting with both hands has remedied this.   I had some back and between the shoulder/neck paid after fishing for quite a while.  I fixed this by getting an adjustable seat pedestal and a butt seat, instead of the standard height with a folding seat.  Raising and lowering it throughout the day helps eliminate this fatigue.  

 

 

I've been blessed with good health, and I'm thankful for it.  I'm 58, I've never had any kind of surgery and haven't spent a single night in the hospital as a patient since my birth.   

[Bankbeater]

Both shoulders have been operated on to repair tears, and the left one currently has a small tear in it that is not worth going in to fix.  I cracked my right kneecap falling on riprap when I was a teenager, and they couldn't do anything with it except to let it heal on its own.

Starting in the late fall and going through to spring I need to work out at least 2x a week.  If I don't, the arthritis makes them hurt like heck.

[cyclops2]

Steady VARIED yard work with great dry weather.  Is a pain free combo.  1 out of 2 is pretty good for my life.

[TOXIC]

I’ll give you a little different take on the subject.  As a youngster, I was a football player and in high school worked training thoroughbred race horses.  I was walking horses 3 hours before school and then football practice and walking horses after school.  I then went on to various careers that were very limited on physical demands.  I ended up in a very sedentary job that I kept for 34 years.  I started guiding in the middle of my professional life.  What I found was that serious fishing works muscle groups in ways that normal workouts and life in general doesn’t.  At my current age of 64 I can tell more physical limitations on parts of my body I don’t use for fishing ?. I am still able to manhandle my 21 foot boat and fish 10 hours a day for a week straight in both Florida and Michigan every year.  I’ll admit it probably would be easier if I dropped 40lbs but I can still combat fish.  I do have some spinal arthritis that will act up some days but it’s most evident running long distances in the boat in rough water as a passenger.  
 

ps….signing up for Medicare this year sucked!??

[Way north bass guy]

As a stonemason, even though I’m still relatively young (42), I’ve had the odd “ache” here or there. It’s pretty much all I’ve ever done since I graduated high school, and even during summers before that working for my father. I’m self employed now, 99% of the time I’m all by myself all day, so I know to go easy and not do stupid stuff to my body. I’m more than busy enough that I can pick and choose my jobs, and have absolutely no problem turning down one that I know will be a killer on me, cause I have so many other ones that’d be relatively easy. My back, knees etc are all still in good condition, and as you can imagine, my core strength is “pretty solid” ?. 
Funny though, two days ago I went in for a physical ( haven’t been to the doctors in ages, but I figured I should at least have them check me out to make sure everything is still where it’s supposed to be), and I got my tetanus booster, since it’s been a long time since my last. Well this morning, I was moving some old, nail filled lumber around and managed to absolutely hammer an old, rusty exposed roofing nail about 1/2” into the palm of my hand, right through the glove. It’s fine, but once I stopped working at the end of the day it sure seized up quick. Did some stretches and moved it around and it’s ok again now. My wife said “ I don’t think you had to actually test out the tetanus shot did you”.

[Columbia Craw]

Neuropathy in my feet.  That’s it. I deal with it. I refuse to fish like Bill Dance.

[gim]

Man this thread really is a warning sign for me in the coming years.  I was reckless as a kid and played contact sports, but I really have not had a major injury since college, which was over 15 years ago.  I just turned 40 in March.  Aint looking too good based on the posts here.

[A-Jay]

28 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Man this thread really is a warning sign for me in the coming years.  I was reckless as a kid and played contact sports, but I really have not had a major injury since college, which was over 15 years ago.  I just turned 40 in March.  Aint looking too good based on the posts here.

IMO, continue taking care of yourself.

Clearly not a guarantee of anything, but making Staying lean, Fit & Balanced

a way of life now and moving forward, is pretty much all we can do.

Genetics can help but rarely can overcome a detrimental lifestyle.

A-Jay

[Hawgfinder]

Yes working out is great did it most of my life heavy lifting in my younger years mostly cardio now.
Worked as a carpenter for a few years great experience but I worked at a waste water treatment plant as a utility worker for 27 years been in every stinky place you can think of.  Many years of confined entries into many spots unfit for humans in contorted body positions. We had a huge 7 hearth furnace that burned the poop before landfilling ash. Well when the poop was burned it formed what we called clinkers 3~4 hundred pounds that had to be removed. Well after wrestling those things for so long in an area you could only kneel in or lay down using a jackhammer and swinging a big hammer my body took a beating. Had a number of those fall on me!
Had both rotator cuff’s repaired, right bicep tendon reattached, knee surgery, two wrist surgeries, back surgery and both Achilles tendon’s blow up and surgically repaired. Have a tear in my left bicep tendon and a bone spur it rubs on that needs surgery but putting it off.
Actually retired early or was going to be let go because the last 10-12 years I was there I was on IR a quite a bit. Not whining just saying life throws curveball’s on occasion the aches and pains are quite overwhelming at times especially after working in the yard or carrying to much heavy stuff. Fishing suffers especially flipping and not coordinated enough to switch hands. Over hand casting can be tiresome especially in cold weather for the shoulders.
Better than 6’ under the turf.

Like I say it’s always fun till it’s not! Take care of your body as best you can but obviously there’s things that can’t be controlled.

 

Pat

[thediscochef]

I'm only 30, but I haven't been kind to my body until lately. I'm definitely feeling it. Lost 80lbs a few years back, fishing the bank helps with exercise. Lately I've had some lower back/hip trouble that's kept me from fishing on a few occasions. I also have a bad knee and arthritis in the hands that can be brutal if I don't take days off from the baitcaster. I've found spinning tackle with a large handle knob to help with the hands on bad days. Years of playing upright bass with poor technique did the hands, weight did the knee. It all kinda seems to get worse if I don't exercise. This is gonna be a painful body in 20 years. Speaking of which it's time to go for a hike at the lake.

[BrianMDTX]

I’ll be 62 in September. I had a bad fall in 2015 and broke two transverse processes in my left lower back. I don’t &$%#! about the pain from standing too long as hey, I can walk and talk and I’m not a para or quadriplegic…or a corpse. I sit 100% in my boat and 95% in a folding chair from the bank. It’s a limitation that I can live with. 
 

What has been bothering me is lingering pain in numerous joints that has persisted ever since I had COVID-19 in Dec-Jan. Especially in both my shoulders. So far it hasn’t affected casting but it is a major (no pun intended) pain when paddling my inflatable. Sometimes I wake up and am stiff and sore, but I fish anyway. Or bowhunt. One day I may not be able to do so. But as Aragorn said, “Today is NOT that day!!!!” 
 

Tight lines!

[gim]

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Genetics can help but rarely can overcome a detrimental lifestyle.

There is a lot of bad stuff in my genetics.  Multiple forms of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.  I'm fairly proactive about having regular check ups and physicals nowadays because my wife demands it.  That, and there's really no downside because I have good health insurance.

 

I had an ear exam/test done in Jan 2021 and I do have permanent hearing damage in my left ear.  I cannot hear things out of that ear at high frequency anymore.  Its from shooting guns for 25 years.  I shoot right handed, so my right ear is covered up when I shoot, but my left ear is exposed.  I always use muffs at the range, but when I hunt, my left ear is exposed.  Its not going to go away on its own either, and it will only continue to get worse.  Apparently there is this device called a Game Ear that suppresses loud noises like gun fire, but still allows me to hear normal sounds like a deer walking, a turkey gobble, or a rooster flushing.  I'm gonna have to look into it.  I am going to continue to hunt for as long as I'm able to.  This is one of those things that isn't going to "heal on its own."

[Boomstick]

I have had back pains for most of my life. I don't let it stop me, but sometimes I have to sit down when my back starts acting up. Usually this does not affect anything unless I'm doing a full day of flipping or pitching cover.

[PhishLI]

On 4/26/2022 at 4:30 PM, Mobasser said:

Are there others here who have aches and pains which affect your fishing?

Yes. 

On 4/26/2022 at 4:30 PM, Mobasser said:

I can fish around three hours, then I'll need to go home. We can never expect our bodies to stay young our entire lives. Old age happens. 

Old age and old injuries aside, the worst thing anyone can do is lose flexibility. If you don't see yourself ever hitting the gym, at least take a serious look at a real stretching routine. I'm not talking about attempting to touch your toes in the morning for 30 seconds before giving up. Understand that at your age it may take a few months to achieve a level that'll allow you to live and play far more comfortably than you do now, but that will come and it's well worth it, especially if you make it a daily habit. Bigger than that you'll avoid future injury because of doing this. Give it a shot. If you do it'll change your life beyond your wildest expectations.

[Mobasser]

1 hour ago, PhishLI said:

Yes. 

Old age and old injuries aside, the worst thing anyone can do is lose flexibility. If you don't see yourself ever hitting the gym, at least take a serious look at a real stretching routine. I'm not talking about attempting to touch your toes in the morning for 30 seconds before giving up. Understand that at your age it may take a few months to achieve a level that'll allow you to live and play far more comfortably than you do now, but that will come and it's well worth it, especially if you make it a daily habit. Bigger than that you'll avoid future injury because of doing this. Give it a shot. If you do it'll change your life beyond your wildest expectations.

Actually, my morning stretching routine is pretty good. It takes me about 20 min. Then sit ups and leg lifts to finish off. At 64, my doctor says I'm in good shape. Not overweight, non smoker, and try to eat well.               What's happened to me is what happens to lots of guys who do trade work for so long. Too many years of lifting, stretching, up and down ladders, and crawling around on your knees. A slight amount of carpal tunnel from gripping tools so much also. I appreciate the encouragement. I plan on enjoying my retirement, and I'm too bull headed to give in to these aches and pains easily. When I was working, I got my exercise at work. Now, I'll carry on at home. The worst thing you can do is remain idle.

[whitwolf]

The last few weeks some folks in our furniture plant (me included) have had to work on the floor as we are having a time finding anyone to work. I've  actually enjoyed it as it brought back memories of my start. I'll  be 61 later this month and have faired well. I got home and headed to the shower.  I slipped and fell and busted a rib and they think i have a small muscle tear. I have a feeling at 60 this will not heal quickly. It's  tough breathing and a cough is brutal. I plan to go in tomorrow but doubt I will be able to do much. Aches and pains....stink.

[TOXIC]

Was talking to my fishing partner about our upcoming annual St Clair week long fishing trip and he reminded me that because he has been out of the country for his job a lot this spring, we are not in what we call “fishing shape”.  Normally before we head out for 7 days of sunup to sundown fishing, we try to do multiple long days on our local water to work the fishing muscle groups that get used the most.  Add to that the grind of standing on a heaving deck if the weather goes south and we will be hurtin units at the end of the day.?