I’m 95% sure I tore the long head of my bicep tendon (Popeye look to the muscle, some bruising, etc). Scheduling a doctor appointment. Looking on line I see some conflicting information regarding surgical repair vs not fixing it.
I want to be able to lift for the rest of my life and I have good insurance now to pay for any medical care/rehab. Would be interested in the experiences of others. Thanks.
I did that. Long and short is that you can live without this. The short head does most of the work. That said, it will feel funny (took me a while to be able to toss something straight into a trash can). It never really did effect my lifting. However, I also injured my shoulder at the same time and have always taken an extremely conservative approach to upper body training.
After 6 years, I got the shoulder and the tendon fixed. They re-attached it by screwing it into the pec minor tendon since there is better blood supply there. Seems to have healed just fine (9 months post-op) and works great. I am told that it mechanically works a bit less efficiently than before the injury, but haven’t noticed that. It was darned uncomfortable post-op and took a few months before I was allowed to train it. If it were me, I would say that repairing it is a good idea, but there is no rush.
Oh and stay away from mixed grip deadlifts. I always use overhooks + wrist straps. A blown biceps is not a terribly uncommon injury from this grip.
Hope this helps, YMMV.
– jj