As some of you know... I've been suffering with severe left shoulder pain and sometimes it hurt to pick up a cup full of coffee much less my bow. To avoid going to the Orthopedic surgeon, I've been seeing a Chiropractor buddy for some relief. This week he emphasized I need to talk with the surgeon, get an MRI and discuss surgical options. I told him NO WAY (again). So... he said he knew of a colleague downstate that has a cold laser and perhaps that may be the way to go before speaking with the surgeon. My chiropractor is even considering purchasing one - but would like to talk with a 'patient' before laying out 17 grand for one. So... I made an appointment to have cold laser therapy administered to my shoulder today. The chiropractor said I should be pretty much pain free in 3 to 5 visits - based on my flinches while he pushed, pulled and stretched my arm. The laser he used is a theraLASE unit. It is said to treat several conditions including: athletic injuries; disc problems; sciatica; knee pain (including ACL, Meniscus and MCL, LCL tears); rotator cuff tears; frozen shoulder; bicipital tendonitis; post surgical and fracture healing. The therapy does take a few treatment to fully fix certain problems (the longer a problem has been around the longer it takes to heal)... but it has a 96-98% success rate. I have a few more treatments to go, but I'm looking forward to hunting turkey with my compound bow this spring -vs- purchasing a crossbow. Anyone else have this administered or have any thoughts about it???
Never even heard of that, sounds pretty interesting...I'd like to hear how it turns out. Was this covered by insurance, if you don't mind me asking?
Cold laser therapy is a technology that has been around for a few years but has only come to the forefront in recent years. Because it is a 'new' technology, insurance companies will not pay for the treatment. Prices from this chiropractor's brochure are: 1) Laser therapy w/an adjustment - $10. 2) Laser therapy w/o an adjustment - $20. 3) Laser therapy w/o adjustment at multiple sites - $40. So I thought that was pretty reasonable, however... The brochure also states 'Acute conditions usually take up to 5 treatments, Sub-acute conditions take up to 10 treatments, and chronic conditions take up to 20 treatments. Typical sessions take 8-10 minutes.' So it can get 'pricey' is you have a sub-acute or chronic condition. I'll keep y'all in the loop as to how it turns out. This evening I can tell 'something' has definitely 'awakened' in my shoulder.
gltomp, I applaud your efforts to stay with a vertical bow instead of bowing out to a as we call it in our area a "crossgun".
Had my 3rd Treatment this morning. Still limited motion, however I do have a larger range of motion w/o severe pain.
UPDATE: Looks like the laser treatments worked VERY WELL!!! I finished about 2 weeks ago and have been letting my shoulder just plain rest. I went to the local shop today and shot my bow for the first time since deer season finished. Shot about 30 arrows. I did get tired... and my groups started to expand after a half hour... but my shoulder did not hurt or bother me at all. I'm going to be shooting daily and practicing from now until the 5/1 opener... LET'S GO TURKEY HUNTING !!!
