Health & Archery

[tel]

Right - done the search, not got the answer....

apart from the obvious muscle strain type injury are there any other long-term problems that may not have been caused by archery but that are going to halt your archery full-stop? I'm thinking back problems etc.

[Stylisht]

Someone's having an operation on their left elbow (they are right-handed) because the bone is trying to grow to make the elbow solid because of the weight they've been pulling. I'd say that's a pretty big problem.

[LineCutter]

Originally Posted by tel

long-term problems that may not have been caused by archery but that are going to halt your archery full-stop? I'm thinking back problems etc.

• Death
• Bilateral amputation of the arms
• Major stokes or any other disabling neurological condition
• Muscle disorders causing profound weakness
• Polio
• etc. etc

When do you want me to stop?

What exactly were you searching for?

[tel]

Originally Posted by LineCutter

What exactly were you searching for?

I suppose it was a bit vague My main reason for asking is that I have a niggling lower back problem that occasionally develops into sciatica, now being one of those occasions. There doesn't seem to be a straightforward answer to whether or not this condition will become permanent, more regular, or worsen - what I was trying to find was an indication of whether archery would aggravate it or if I would be forced to give up altogether.

[avalon]

Slight off-topic, but have you tried horse riding to help it? My mum injured her lower back very seriously years ago, but was ok to shoot... she finds horse riding very soothing (and dramatically reduces the amount of sciatica she has) as it's passively moving your lower back, and she soon notices when she goes without it. Just a thought

[Deadeye Doc]

Originally Posted by tel

Right - done the search, not got the answer....

apart from the obvious muscle strain type injury are there any other long-term problems that may not have been caused by archery but that are going to halt your archery full-stop? I'm thinking back problems etc.

Linecutter is quite right. This is far too vague a question.

I think I would have added Multiple Sclerosis, and possibly severe mental disorders such as shizophrenia. However, even issues such as diabetic maculopathies causing blindness could result in an individual joining the visually impaired archers but would not necessarily stop you shooting.

Now that you have stated that this is about a "back problem" that is intermittent a whole bunch of questions arise. When, for example, does this happen, or what makes it worse? What, if anything, have you tried or taken for treatment? Have you seen your doctor or a physiotherapist?

Avalon is also headed in this direction, but there is always the possibility that horseriding might worsen the condition. It would be better to start with a diagnosis, first, and then work towards a solution.

You never told us if archery does make this worse, or does it occur at other times.

[tel]

I did say I was thinking 'back problems' in the first post, but as already accepted it was vague.
Like most who have problems in this area I get good and bad spells - the last time it got to this level was two years ago, but there have been many less serious episodes in between. Usually a few days of anti-inflammatory tablets and pain killers does the trick. This time its been a few weeks and is very slow to improve. I've had a couple of injections which helped, but am off to the docs this morning for a steroid jab
Archery doesn't seem to cause any problems directly - though standing on the line for the length of a tournament can be uncomfortable, drawing the bow isn't a problem.

[teknohippy]

See an expert, sciatica can have many root causes.

The first thing I was told was to lose weight, and the one thing that aggravated my sciatica the most was if I had been reading the night before, laying on my front propped up on my elbows.

A friend of mine's was caused by too much freefall, the snap of pulling the 'chute at terminal velocity too many times as a para.

So my point is get someone to look at it as everyone is different, rather than stopping reading or jumping out of perfectly decent aeroplanes.

[wingate_52]

I am a right handed archer. I have developed a solid lump on the back of my neck, just left of centre. I am having it checked out. Gland, muscle, fat of another tumour?

[Deadeye Doc]

Originally Posted by tel

I did say I was thinking 'back problems' in the first post, but as already accepted it was vague.
Like most who have problems in this area I get good and bad spells - the last time it got to this level was two years ago, but there have been many less serious episodes in between. Usually a few days of anti-inflammatory tablets and pain killers does the trick. This time its been a few weeks and is very slow to improve. I've had a couple of injections which helped, but am off to the docs this morning for a steroid jab
Archery doesn't seem to cause any problems directly - though standing on the line for the length of a tournament can be uncomfortable, drawing the bow isn't a problem.

One of the "problems" that may be associated with the way we shoot, nowadays, is what used, at one point, to be called the "power stance". The position of our feet as in the KSL sequence, in golfing terms "an open stance" as adopted and very successfully used by Lee Trevino, requires that we rotate our spine during the draw and predraw. There are examples of extreme open stances some of which have been illustrated in other threads.

I am unsure what the rotation might do to the lower back. Sciatica is dealt with on the following website
MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Sciatic nerve
However, there are other causes of pain in the leg, so as mentioned, diagnosis before treatment.

The dynamics of the rotation of the spine during the predraw/draw in any individual will depend on mechanical factors. How we stand - the Alexander Technique or the Cyriax method ( Cyriax mechanical diagnosis and treatment in orthopaedic medicine ) are helpful here - will influence any pain coming from a nerve compression such as sciatica.