Oh man just saw the updates my man! Glad the doc was able to repair it. My workout partner is 48 and has gone through something very similar. He’s come back to benching respectable weight for sure. Even puts most younger guys to shame haha. Anyways glad to hear surgery went well.
Prayers for a quick recovery are your way.
[quote]Bauber wrote:
Oh man just saw the updates my man! Glad the doc was able to repair it. My workout partner is 48 and has gone through something very similar. He’s come back to benching respectable weight for sure. Even puts most younger guys to shame haha. Anyways glad to hear surgery went well.
Prayers for a quick recovery are your way.[/quote]
Thanks for prayers big guy. How long was your partner down and what was his progress like?
Stay healthy my friend; I would not like to see you go through this with all the hard work and effort you have put in.
FIRST DR. VISIT AFTER SURGERY
The Doctor said everything looks fine; the anchors that were drilled into the humerus looks good and the muscle is staying attached.
I was told I would stay in a sling for another 2 weeks and then we can talk about physical therapy. I asked about doing some aerobics and he said I can hit the elliptical as long as the arm stays in the sling and I keep it to my side.
FIRST PT SESSION.
I just had my first PT session and although everyone has said I am ahead of schedule, I have a long way to go. I can raise my arm to the front about 120 degrees and 80 degrees to the side. I have decided to forgo any upper body work for another 2 weeks. Why chance blowing out a good repair!
Leg training is a joke! If you can’t raise your arm; you can’t squat; if you can’t squat; you just aren’t training your legs. (just my opinion)
I did include an x-ray of my shoulder. The white spots in the humerus are the clips the surgeon used to anchor the whip-stitching to.
[quote]doublelung84 wrote:
FIRST PT SESSION.
I just had my first PT session and although everyone has said I am ahead of schedule, I have a long way to go. I can raise my arm to the front about 120 degrees and 80 degrees to the side. I have decided to forgo any upper body work for another 2 weeks. Why chance blowing out a good repair!
Leg training is a joke! If you can’t raise your arm; you can’t squat; if you can’t squat; you just aren’t training your legs. (just my opinion)
I did include an x-ray of my shoulder. The white spots in the humerus are the clips the surgeon used to anchor the whip-stitching to. [/quote]
You are wise not to rush it. I am 9.5 weeks out of a massive rotator cuff repair which included re-attaching the long head of the biceps with a screw set into the pec tendon. Reason they do that, it seems, is that there is a better blood supply and more synovial fluid. In any case, my pec smarts too and I have restricted motion as a result. While mine is not as bad is yours, I can well imagine.
Soft tissue repairs like this might take longer to heal. Better safe than sorry. Judging by your original post I’d wager that you probably had some chronic issue with it and the injury was the last straw. That is a good thing to think about before you go back to doing any serious training – how did it really happen. Any ideas?
Leg training has been a bit issue for me too. So far I’ve been doing Bulgarian split squats, box pistols, &c. but I am just beating time until I can get back under the bar. I’m not allowed to actually hold a weight until 16 weeks (Christmas 2013) and then I have to take it easy until the 6 month mark (March 1, 2014). Oy veh!
Keep us posted. This is actually a pretty interesting case study. Best of luck too!
–jj
[quote]jj-dude wrote:
[quote]doublelung84 wrote:
FIRST PT SESSION.
I just had my first PT session and although everyone has said I am ahead of schedule, I have a long way to go. I can raise my arm to the front about 120 degrees and 80 degrees to the side. I have decided to forgo any upper body work for another 2 weeks. Why chance blowing out a good repair!
Leg training is a joke! If you can’t raise your arm; you can’t squat; if you can’t squat; you just aren’t training your legs. (just my opinion)
I did include an x-ray of my shoulder. The white spots in the humerus are the clips the surgeon used to anchor the whip-stitching to. [/quote]
You are wise not to rush it. I am 9.5 weeks out of a massive rotator cuff repair which included re-attaching the long head of the biceps with a screw set into the pec tendon. Reason they do that, it seems, is that there is a better blood supply and more synovial fluid. In any case, my pec smarts too and I have restricted motion as a result. While mine is not as bad is yours, I can well imagine.
Soft tissue repairs like this might take longer to heal. Better safe than sorry. Judging by your original post I’d wager that you probably had some chronic issue with it and the injury was the last straw. That is a good thing to think about before you go back to doing any serious training – how did it really happen. Any ideas?
Leg training has been a bit issue for me too. So far I’ve been doing Bulgarian split squats, box pistols, &c. but I am just beating time until I can get back under the bar. I’m not allowed to actually hold a weight until 16 weeks (Christmas 2013) and then I have to take it easy until the 6 month mark (March 1, 2014). Oy veh!
Keep us posted. This is actually a pretty interesting case study. Best of luck too!
–jj[/quote]
You asked how it happened; I have no idea! I have been lifting non-stop, less the normal layoff every 4 months for the last 30 years. I made no changes to my schedule or routine; same old same old. It happened with a weight I hit for 5 two weeks before and crushed it a week earlier for the same reps. It snapped on the second rep of something I had a good shot at for six. I will say in hindsight that I should have avoided the wide grip. I guess it’s just the old powerlifter in me.
Best wishes with your rehab. What a Christmas gift for you, huh?!
hey guys , sorry to change topic!, i need help asap! been training seriously for about 2 half yrs now , iv always had trouble with my right pec, i cant seem to get it the same size as my left! , my left has nice shape and all,but my right is lagging behind! , iv researched heaps and ppl are always saying stick to dumbells and leave barbell out , my right has to be wider and the lower pectoral is lacking! its anyoing because i have big potential but its just that, it killing it!
iv thought of a new routine and would like some feed back by chance,
seeing my week point is my lower i start on that first,
my routine :
decline one handed fly till i fatigue then get the barbell and press to failure , as i do this , its already exhausted, i can feel it strain alot as my stronger side i can not feel , i do 3 to 4 sets then to same as for flat, should i so incline flys as well ?
iv even thought of getting an implant!, would going to a doctor or some sort be a better option ? , some1 please respond as i need to fix this problem! , kill the self esteem big time! and ido get depressed about it
some help meeeee ! thanks
[quote]lift28 wrote:
hey guys , sorry to change topic[/quote]
Start your own post in the Body Building section; they will be able to help you there.
UPDATE:
Doctor’s visit went well yesterday. He told me I can go without the sling; six weeks of that sucked! I was instructed to continue PT and we would work on R.O.M. for the next 2 weeks. It looks like I will be another 6 weeks until I can apply any force to the pec.
On a better note; I started back into the gym with some light weight. I’m staying away from any direct pec work and over head pressing. I just wanted to get the blood flowing and feel like I am on the road back.
Dr. Luchetti did a great job in hiding the scare and keeping it as small as possible as you can see in the pictures. For the record, in about 7 weeks I lost the cap on my outer delt and one inch off my left arm plus I am soft as a pillow. Sucks!
Compare this to the other pics on the internet. This is 7 weeks out and should fade even more. So far, I am happy with the Doctor’s quality of work.
UPDATE:
Back to the Doctors at 10 weeks post-op. He said the tendon feels good, scare is healing nicely and I am farther ahead then he expected.
Now for the problem; I have a pain in my shoulder when I extend my arm out to the side. It feels like an impingement at the 80-120 degree movement. The Doctor said it has nothing to do with the pec tear but I didn’t have this problem before the surgery. He did give me cortisone shot in the rotator cuff. The pain has reduced but the impingement is still there. I seriously think it has to do with a muscle imbalance, between not using the pec and having it in a sling for a month.
If anyone has any ideas, I welcome them!
UPDATE:
About 15 weeks post op. I have been doing the bar for 4 sets of 15 for the last 5 weeks as instructed by the Doctor. Yesterdays visit went well, the Doctor checked the tendon; said it felt and looked good. He asked me to do a push-up for him, no pain. When I was told I could add 10 lbs a week to my bench I almost popped a cork. That would put me at working out with 165 in 3 months! We agreed to work up 185 in the next 5 weeks, gauged on how I feel.
I started this post with the intent of helping the next guy. If that’s you, I hope you found something to help you through a dark time.
Released at 21 weeks!
Met with the Doctor yesterday and he cut me loose. He said my recovery was the best he has ever seen. Since my last report here, I have slowly worked my way up to 155 lbs. for 15 reps. and can happily say I felt like I got a workout doing it. I will say I do feel a little tight in that pec but the Doctor said that will come in time since the tendon was shortened. He told me now it’s up to me to get my strength back. I’m approaching my chest work as a guy who now has a 200 lb. max and not a guy who has done 400 before. My goals for now will be to see what I can do for 15 reps with a closer grip.
Be safe my friends and thanks to everyone who has supported me with their kind words.
[quote]doublelung84 wrote:
Released at 21 weeks!
Met with the Doctor yesterday and he cut me loose. He said my recovery was the best he has ever seen. Since my last report here, I have slowly worked my way up to 155 lbs. for 15 reps. and can happily say I felt like I got a workout doing it. I will say I do feel a little tight in that pec but the Doctor said that will come in time since the tendon was shortened. He told me now it’s up to me to get my strength back. I’m approaching my chest work as a guy who now has a 200 lb. max and not a guy who has done 400 before. My goals for now will be to see what I can do for 15 reps with a closer grip.
Be safe my friends and thanks to everyone who has supported me with their kind words.
[/quote]
Most excellent news! You posts certainly helped me too dealing with my shoulder surgeries. I’m very glad for you and agree that I too should concentrate on higher reps at lower weights rather than max effort lifts (since I’m over 50, ahem).
Best of Luck!
– jj
So to everyone that has followed my journey back and supported me through this, I say thanks!
Pic.s from a week ago; time to dial in the bow!
