won't bump my own thread again, but I am still shooting!

DavidAGO

New member
Several months ago I said I was going to get out of the shooting game; I had hurt my hand in 2011 and could not use it effectively. since I was a dentist and needed my right hand, cutting out any outside uses seemed like a smart thing.

Many here told me to keep on, to shoot left handed, to practice, do physical therapy. so I did. I have been shooting left handed, first with .22s, then with .38 special wadcutters, a real light load in my GP100, which soaks up a lot of recoil. Still not bringing out of the safe the .41 and .44 magnums, but had gotten back to pretty good accuracy with the left hand.

Two weeks ago I went back to the dentist with Osteopathic training who found the impinged Ulnar nerve. He was surprised my hand was not a lot better. he examined me again and found that I had another nerve impinged. he manipulated my arm and told me it would take a week or so to get better. It took a week. I still do not have 100% use of my right hand, but I am not so sure that it is because I have not used it much in the past 4 years and it is weak.

Last week a local gun store held a pistol shooting competition at their range. I entered, thinking "why not?" I was shooting my GP100 with my light wadcutters. I won the competition! The nice thing about practicing left handed? when my right hand got too tired to hold well, I just switched to my left hand and accuracy did not seem to drop off.

I am still not ready to try the big calibers, but it is on the horizon.

Now, with me seeing that use of my right hand fully may be in the future, I am a bit mad. I had MRIs, CT, nerve conduction tests, just about everything that could be tested medically was. And it took a dentist with osteopathic training to find impinged nerves. And he was apologetic that he did not find the other pinched nerve the first time.

so thank you all for telling me to not give up., and if anyone thinks they have reached the end of their rope with a medical condition, I will tell you, go somewhere else. Get another opinion. I was never a proponent of Chiropractors or any alternative method of treatment/diagnosis. My own brother is an MD. but I am not so sure that modern medicine has it right now. It is mostly based on tests and procedures, and not as much on the doctor's skill and experience. In my opinion, that counts for a lot.

So I am back in the game; I have no doubt I will work up to the big calibers again, I am already looking for lighter loads for my .41, there is another competition in about a month!

David
 
Glad to hear our nagging worked out so well.
As for medical science, don't get me started.
Alternative medicine has done more for me than any regular doctor.
And without harm.
Something that seems to have been forgotten with so called modern medicine.
If the magnums turn out to be too much, do you really need them?
We got along quite well without them for most of shooting history.
 
They call it practicing medicine for a reason. (Someone was going to say it)

You are an inspiration to never giving up.
 
I'm curious about the whole dentist thing.....You were getting medical treatment on your arm from a dentist? Forgive me if I'm missing something here.....
 
was

I'm curious about the whole dentist thing.....You were getting medical treatment on your arm from a dentist? Forgive me if I'm missing something here.....

This takes some close following.... Two years ago, after all the medical tests then three different MDs saying "well, we do not find anything wrong" I had reached about rock bottom. I was talking to a couple of dentists I knew that had filed on their disability insurance, I was looking for something I could do in the dental field to make a good living. In May of 2013 I had already volunteered to work at a mission of mercy event, two days where dentists come together and work on all comers.

When I checked in, I told a dentist friend that I could not work at extracting teeth, I could not use my hand effectively. He asked about the whole story, I told him, and he said "lets go find Dr. VooDoo." We found him, and my dentist friend told Dr. VooDoo "his hand is bad, fix him".

Dr. VooDoo waved his hands over my arm and back, felt of my hands, wrist, arm, elbow, and shoulder. He told me my Ulnar nerve was pinched, he manipulated my elbow and it felt better absolutely immediately. Over the next few months, my hand slowly got better , I could use it much more effectively. Dr. VooDoo explained that he was a practicing dentist but took many hundreds of hours of osteopathic training as continuing education courses. He has treated hundreds of people for all sorts of aliments.

My hand started getting worse after several months, and I got back to basically depression about it. I ran into Dr. VooDoo at the May 2015 mission of mercy event and he found the other pinched nerve.

I did not seek him out for treatment, but he appeared when I needed him. It is a hard to believe story, especially for me, I just did not believe in Chiro and osteo as "serious" medical disciplines. But this guy is for real.

Anyone who wants his name and contact information may send me a private message, I will be glad to give anyone his real name. But I still call him Dr. VooDoo, and he just smiles at me.

David

I started the original thread a few months ago because I could not stand the recoil of shooting anything but my .22s and was asking advice about how to get out of this hobby. I received much advice that was a great help in starting in shooting left handed and not giving up, I hope others who face some physical debilitating situation can learn and not give up on firearms.
 
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DavidAgo: living proof that humans are infinitely adaptable.
Glad you're still in the game, mate.
Happy shooting.
 
David, I recall your original thread and am truly pleased (grinning like a madman here) that you did not give up, that you learned to shoot left-handed, and that you found some help with the pinched nerves. Mostly that you didn't give up!

..and I'll echo - "Don't get me started about doctors!" - but some of them (the experienced ones, often - but not always) do know what they're doing. It is a matter of luck, not skill, to find a competent one.

Thanks for closing the loop and letting us know "the rest of the story" (apologies to Paul Harvey).
 
Terrific update and it seems to me like you need to visit this guy on a semi-regular basis, especially if he can detect the problem so quickly and easily.
 
Dr. VooDoo explained that he was a practicing dentist but took many hundreds of hours of osteopathic training as continuing education courses. He has treated hundreds of people for all sorts of aliments.


Ahhh, it all makes sense. I'm glad to hear you're feeling better.
 
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