I Tore my bicep from the bone on friday, and had surgery on tuesday. I came home that afternoon. I was in alot of pain yesterday, but not to bad today. I see the Doc on wenesday the 3rd and get my bandages changed, and see the Doc next wenesday the 10th start my PT. sound about right? What to expect after that? how long to be lifting back to normal?
Sorry to hear it I feel your pain BUT!! I will say you are one of the lucky Majority where as I was in the unlucky minority. You are getting to get rolling right off the bat no cast etc. Mine was frayed and frazzeled to the point they had to take a few inches off the tendon and I was stuck in a cast with arm fully contracted 8 damn weeks then weeks getting it straight. I atrophied a ton my upper arm shrank to damn near the size of my forearm
Im not saying this to have a pity party but give you a high light, something to be happy about. Your recovery should be fairly quick even mine I was out of the cast and well not so wisely but I did it a strongman comp just 12 weeks post surgery and placed OK considering I had half a damn arm LOL. now 6 months post surgery Im still in recovery for sue BUT im nailing some PR’s now and nearly at or past my former self.
Just have to be very cautious and take your time bro. even after you are able to hit higher load stick to at least one day of HIGH rep very light work for that tendon. become friends now with a safety squat bar lots of leg pressing one arm stuff with the other arm even one Arm DL’s. doing this and I was able to on my first real DL session 4.5 months removed from surgery hit an all time PR of 625 and have since nailed 635. You can still hit the weights hard just be cautious push the limits but just listen to your doc and your body.
I know several guys who have had you type of surgery and been back near 100% in a matter of 12 weeks. the last one went from surgery to loading a 300 lb atlas stone in 11 weeks.
eat right get plenty of intake vits, minerals , rest and DO that PT and do it a LOT stay on that arm and dont lay off the rest of you. stay positive and KNOW youll be back
OH high rep band work as well. I even had one tied in my truck so I could drive and just rep away on a light band.
In short it may sem like a hella long time during it but in realioty itll come back fast if you play it smart keep an eye on the big picture
Cheers hope this helps,
Phill
Thanks Phil, I know time is on my side and I’m in no hurry, because I can’t let this happen again. When I left The hospital that day I took a pair of rolled up socks and squeezed it 30 times and done that all day. a plus for me i work for a university that has some great trainers, so when i go back to work i can go by and do my PT.
I’ve had partial tears in both biceps, and if anything, an injury does make you relook at your training. I actually went an entire year unable to do any direct bicep work.
All the best bro!
-Stu
Jimmy ore a Bi too! Check out Heavy’s thread. I tore a Tri in May and am still rehabing…
11 days post surgery. My arm was never hugh by no means, I was getting close to 16". when I frist unwrapped my arm and looked at it I thought it looked like my 9 yr olds.
I tried to post a pic, but I guess you can’t.
still trying.
Can we see both arms to compare the difference? Also you didn’t specify how you had torn your bicep. Was it from weight training?
I tore it on a easy lift, it was my new LCD TV. I think what happened was it was over my fireplace, so I had to lift from the bottom with my arms extended. When I went to hand to the guy helping me I heard a loud pop, and I saw like something running around in my arm. It hurt like hell, but after it happened it wasent that bed. I didnt go to the Doc until about 3 hours later.
Hang in there man. I last football season I had a really bad groin pull in my left leg and I think in my thigh also. It messed up my season even though i stubbornly played with it still hurt. Took 6+ months to head so I feel your pain, probably a whole lot less if I hadn’t ran on it so much. That’s the reason why my legs are behind in size compared to my upperbody. Just keep your head up and think positive and don’t do anything that would aggrivate it and you’ll heal up in no time.
Thanks sed26, I’m in no hurry. For right now it hurts like hell just to unwrap my arm and take it out of the brace. I get my stiches out on Wed. I go to rehab on Tue and Thur but I do a lil on my own every day.
I had a class 3 bicep tendon tear in 1987 on my right arm.It happen in the deadlift and it was my underhand grip arm.After the repair,I went to rehab for 8 weeks and 6 months post op they let me train light.Now I use my right arm as my overhand grip and have no problems at all.Hang in there brother,you will come back strong. Jimmy T
Tore my bicep deadlifting, never had the surgery, orthopod said my tendon was still in tact and it would be merely cosmetic and that if I continued to powerlift that I would probably tear it again. Rehabed it myself and continued to powerlift. (Arms are 20" plus.) Never had a problem with it other than how it looks.
Just be particuliarly careful of any supine movements with your bi’s for awhile. Rehab slow and easy with light weights. Build up your reps before you start going heavy again and be careful of other movements like lat pull downs, rows, etc.
Good luck
Here’s the good one. You can see the difference.
Thanks guys for all your post. It will be 3 weeks since the surgery Tuesday, and still sore as hell. PT said I am way ahead on progress, and can loose the brace in 6 weeks. I went back to work today. All is GREAT…
I ripped my bi last Feb. in an accident (falling down stair, arm got caught on banister) and they are just now getting it diagnosed (#^%@ US health care system!!) You are lucky. In my case I not merely ripped the bi, but ripped the entire shoulder capsule and several of the rotator cuff muscles too.
Having had other reconstructive surgery, one key point is that your tendon will take longer to heal than you think. Probably a few months – tendons don’t have a great blood supply. You can get back the muscle much faster and overpower it (like you already did the first time when it ripped) if you aren’t careful. Right now it is probably held together with sutures and a little scar tissue.
Ask the doctor and PT how long it will take for the tendon to actually heal and what the best way to toughen up a tendon is. Love to hear what they say.
Best of Luck!
– jj
Good to hear you are recovering. Tore mine 3 years ago. Was at a Rodeo and of course was telling the young guys how it used to be done. One thing led to another so I climbed on a Bull. Tore the hell out of my right bicep. Distal tendon. It is fixed up great now. Full strength.
But be sure and take it easy at first. It took me a good year to get back. Make sure the PT does deep tissue massage to break up the scar tissue. It hurts but is a key to regaining elbow flexion.
Barry
that sucks dude. ALOT> Like and you tore it setting up a dam TV you must feal like crap.
Phill - You said they “cut off a few inches” of your distal tendon. Did they have to use a graft to get it to reattach?
I have a complete tear, and it’s been around 4 months now. Docs say it’s too late for direct attachment, leaving 3 options:
A) Do nothing = 15-30% reduction in flexion strength, 50-60% reduction in supination.
B) Surgery, attach bicep tendon to brachialis tendon = full flexion strength, no help to supination.
C) Surgery, normal reattachment using Achilles tendon graft from a cadaver = full recovery (assuming no complications).
There is no information available on how each of those options would work under the demands of strongman training.
Anyone familiar with the results from any of these options?