Have you missed a day out on the river due to shoulder, elbow, or wrist pain? Balancing on logs, slippery rocks, and steep inclines makes you miss that honey hole. Casting/ shooting through that pain and you barely notice until the fun ends. Lana June Health is a boutique massage and Pilates studio aimed to help anglers keep up with their goals. The owner Lana has been fishing in Colorado and Mexico with her dad since the age of 6. After years of school and years of fishing, Lana has developed a fly fishing treatment protocol using Pilates and massage called Mending fly fishermen. Combining these two modalities help strengthen your casting hand, relaxing those upper extremities, while building core strength for back pain and helping with balance. As a licensed neuromuscular therapist, a Certified Pilates instructor, and an MRI technologist, Lana has the skills and knowledge to tune up your casting arm, and to get your posture and proprioceptors on point.
Fly fishing is a high velocity, repetitive, overhand sport that predisposes the angler to injury. Fly fishing calls for a unique skill that requires fluid throwing motion in both forward and backward directions. This is very similar to the Pilates movement on the reformer. Throwing a cast can increases stress on various parts of the body and puts anglers at risk for what we pros call an overuse injury. A combination of Pilates and massage can help strengthen and relax those muscles that are at risk, thus prolonging and enhancing your sport.
The most common injuries in fly fishing are:
Falls due to slippery rocks, heavy gear, and swift water.
Laceration to the hand or arm.
Repetitive motion injuries in the shoulder, elbow, and hand.
Lower back pain.
The shoulder is a complex joint with a massive range of motion, poor stability, and is prone to injury. That can trickle down further into the arm and also cause cervical neck tension. Some terms that a doctor may use to diagnose your pain could be - Impingement syndrome, rotator cuff muscle strain, angler's elbow (Yep, that a thing), tendonitis of the wrist known as DeQuervain’s tendonitis.
Pain can be felt when lifting the arm overhead or behind your back, flicking your elbow, and a weakening grip. Impingement syndrome and rotator cuff strain are common shoulder injuries and occur when the bone in your upper arm approximates with the acromion of your scapula, causing pinching of the nerves and tissues between. This injury can be caused by relative motion like long arm casting overhead, and the direct force used to get your line out further.
Other fun techniques like mending, high sticking, and nailing that hard set can cause anglers elbow. It is a repetitive motion above the head resulting in swelling and inflammation in the extensor tendon insertion on the elbow. This can cause weak grip strength, pain, or burning sensation on the outside of your elbow. Wrist flicking can get the best of us and can cause tendonitis, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation can help, but what can you do to train during your off-season? Get stronger and have more range of motion with no pain. Lana's secret is Pilates and massage to follow.
Your Mending for Fly fishing is a one-on-one appointment in a safe and clean environment. This specific protocol can be taught in a group setting depending on location, and also in the comfort of your own home via zoom. We do recommend getting some props to enhance your zoom experience. Expect a brief history intake before we move to the variety of studio equipment. Lana has a full Pilates studio equipped with 3 reformers, a Cadillac, a Pilates chair, and a massage table. There is also a traditional dry sauna that gets up to 170 degrees for your personal use before or after your treatment. Your Pilates session will be specifically tailored to your needs and ability, and your massage will focus on relieving your specific pain. Think of it as similar to a physical therapy appointment. There will be some movement and then some manual therapy. There will be progress and there will be the best season ahead of you. There is magic in movement, and movement is medicine. You can visit the Lana June Health website here.
Additional Reading
Overuse Injuries in Fly Fishing: Recognition and Injury Prevention, Seth L. Sherman, MD, Taylor Ray, BS, and Mark F. Sherman, MD, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, https://imis.sportsmed.org/
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