Starting over

[buzz_knox]

Well, my chronic wrist problems have accelerated to the point that shooting is painful with my strong hand, and I'm going for treatment. A friend mentioned the possibility of carpal tunnel (oh, joy). So, I'm facing the possibility of starting over with my left hand, at least temporarily. I've done some weak hand training, but after a couple of experiences, realized that things are going to be quite a bit different. First, I'm now going to be cross eye dominant. Second, I was going to go back to my Glock 26 to reduce stress on my strong hand, and I thought it would be good for the weak hand as well (reduced recoil meaning better performance). Unfortunately, I can't get the mag to release with my trigger finger. Ugh. I guess I'll be forced to go back to the PSP or P7M13 as carry guns. Or, be forced to pick up some new ones to try. Oh, bother.

Anyone else gone through this?

 

[El Tejon]

buzz, not because of health, but years ago I started squeezing a tennis ball for increased hand and finger strength with my left hand. Have you tried this?

 

[10-Ring]

Last summer, I had a bout of tendonitis in my strong side elbow. PIA is putting it mildly. Didn't shoot for a month, then came back too quickly because I couldn't stand just fondling, had to shoot. Started w/ 22's, but it got boring after the 1st 100 thinking that was it The nxt week, I brought a 9mm and was able to only shoot 75 rounds (normally 200-400) before the pain would just kill things. Did that for a few weeks. Then shot an IDPA stage weak hand and the bells went off. I shot a few more weeks weak hand only...got pretty good at it too. Then I got bored shooting 9mm and figured I'd shoot even 20-30 45's. Learned that the 45 acp rounds are alot more mild than the 9mm. Where the 9's I'd experience pain after about 75 rounds or so, I did 150 pain free rounds of 45 that night & could have shot more if I had them.
A few things;
1. I shoot w/ a brace on my elbow now.
2. Watch the medication they give you. I developed some stomach problems taking too many anti-inflammatories.
3. Don't hurry back too quickly. Allow yourself to heal.
4. And have fun learning to shoot weak side!

 

[Blackhawk]

If you adopt a two handed grip, everything else should just fall into place, Buzz, including eye dominance. Since your brain already knows what the muscles should be doing, you shouldn't have any trouble adapting.

Try eating fresh pineapples or taking bromaline capsules too....

 

[bogie]

Dude, sounds like you're a candidate for benchrest...

 

[oldfart]

If you need carpal tunnel surgery-- go ahead and get it done! It's a bit of a PITA for awhile, but the benefits far outweigh the pain. I was back in business in less than three weeks.

 

[Art Eatman]

Nuthin' like playin' Doctor on the Internet, but here goes: My mother has a problem with hypo-thyroidism. She discovered that a side-effect can be carpal-tunnel syndrome.

(She was having trouble keeping her weight up. A doctor prescribed a lesser dosage of medicine for the hypo-thyroidism, thus slowing her metabolism. CTS resulted. A return to the original dosage ended the problem.)

This is in the medical literature, by the way; it's not just family anecdote.

Just something to think about, is all...

Art

 

[M1911]

Watch the medication they give you. I developed some stomach problems taking too many anti-inflammatories.

That's quite common. Many of those medications say that you should not drink alcohol while taking them. Believe it. It is my understanding that alcohol will make it more likely that you'll develop stomach problems from anti-inflammatories.

I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on the internet...

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

Heck, I've found that I can do just about as well with supported weak hand as strong and I shoot strictly DA revolver and use the weak side eye.

Course my strong hand shooting doesn't set the bar all that high...

 

[Quartus]

Buzz, not much shooting for 5 years because of a wrist tendon injury. Just wouldn't heal. Started squeezing a mini-football - the foam rubber trinket kind. I started making progress. Then I got some silly putty. That REALLY helped. You can overdo it, but reasonable exercise sure can help heal injuries. Maybe even repetitive motion injuries. I've heard of doctors recommending one of the B vitamins to help with carpal tunnel - don't remember which one.


Funny - I bought a 4 pack of of the silly putty, because there isn't enough of the stuff in just one egg. They were bright flourescent colors. Once I had kneaded them together for a while, I had a lump the color of standard silly putty!

 

[DingoDog]

Weight lifting gloves

They are hard to find, but weight lifting gloves that have a strap that goes around the wrist once or twice will help. Don't get the kind that have just a little strap of velcro.

My wife has a genetic problem that causes all of her joints to be extremely loose and dislocate easily. These have helped her ability to shoot without pain immensely.

 

[DeltaElite]

I am currently muddling through a bout of lateral epicondylitis, aka Tennis Elbow.
I broke down and got a cortisone shot for it, since I actually missed work due to the pain and decreased grip strength. My grip strength was down to 17lbs.
Fortunately, I don't have carpal tunnel, but I do understand having to change shooting patterns and even the caliber of the toys I use.
Do whatcha gotta do to get healthy and remember, these darn computers are the cause of alot of our arm ailments nowadays.

 

[pax]

Second, I was going to go back to my Glock 26 to reduce stress on my strong hand, and I thought it would be good for the weak hand as well (reduced recoil meaning better performance). Unfortunately, I can't get the mag to release with my trigger finger.

Try using your middle finger instead.

pax

Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. -- John Wooden