Torn Bicep

I’ll go into details later.

I’m wondering what options do I have from passive therapy? It appears as though that I tore my ‘long’ head bi out of the shoulder joint. Bruising is visible and pain minimal which I think is expected due to tearing the fucker straight out which numbs the pain receptors in the tendon. My bicep does appear strange now. Huge peak. Plus my shoulder is clicking and hurts like a bugger. Probably due to the destabilization in the area.

I know that if I opt for surgery that I’m looking at 6 weeks + of therapy with an expectation of full power recovery. Yet I’m not exactly rolling in cash - even if it is cheap.

On the other hand with passive therapy, websites have given me a recovery of a loss upwards of 20% power without minimal worry. I do consider myself an athlete but have no want to be lifting gargantuan weights anymore. Especially after this.

Suggestions?

I feel like an old man that should have known better. Sigh.

Yeah…thats what we feel like.

After we do shit like that.

[quote=“M0NSTER”]I’ll go into details later.

I’m wondering what options do I have from passive therapy? It appears as though that I tore my ‘long’ head bi out of the shoulder joint. Bruising is visible and pain minimal which I think is expected due to tearing the fucker straight out which numbs the pain receptors in the tendon. My bicep does appear strange now. Huge peak. Plus my shoulder is clicking and hurts like a bugger. Probably due to the destabilization in the area.

I know that if I opt for surgery that I’m looking at 6 weeks + of therapy with an expectation of full power recovery. Yet I’m not exactly rolling in cash - even if it is cheap.

On the other hand with passive therapy, websites have given me a recovery of a loss upwards of 20% power without minimal worry. I do consider myself an athlete but have no want to be lifting gargantuan weights anymore. Especially after this.

Suggestions?

I feel like an old man that should have known better. Sigh.[/quote]

Contact MJB, he just had the same thing happen to him. He may be able to help you with advice, recommendations, etc.
Good Luck!

If you’ve torn the whole head off, you definitely need surgery, as soon as possible, like NOW. otherwise, the biceps tendon may heal without making contact with the bone, and then you’ve got permanent incapacitation.

If there’s only a partial tear, then you may be OK with passive treatment, but you might find it hard for a muscle like that biceps: you want to repair the muscle in the contracted position, so you’d have to glue your elbow to your head for a month.

The more muscle has torn, the more you need surgery. for more than 50%, say, you will get a large drop in mobility, direction of future force generation, and power if you only rely on natural healing rather than stitching the bugger together.

Similar but much more minor damage to both shoulders recently put an end to 25 years of rock climbing for me, and I still have shoulder pain in some situations. the tendons simply weaken with age: your muscles may be able to lift it, but your tendons explode.

This should be obvious, but…

Go see a doctor ASAP!

Yeah, sounds like you did a number to your bicep there. That’s definitely no good.

Outside of what urodacus stated, acupuncture (and possibly some herbs as well) can improve the recovery period of your muscle as well as improve mobility and reduce pain. However, if it’s serious, I wouldn’t just do acupuncture and hope it recovers correctly. As urodacus stated, it needs to be set properly first.

I had a classmate who had broken her arm (can’t remember what bone specifically) just when she had started studying acupuncture. After getting a cast put on, she received regular acupuncture and the bone healed in half the time the doctors had originally expected.

Don’t let the cost keep you from getting it repaired properly. Better to get it fixed properly than to be upset with yourself years later because you have a recurring problem that you didn’t fix now.

Hope everything works out for you.

[quote=“M0NSTER”]I’ll go into details later.

I’m wondering what options do I have from passive therapy? It appears as though that I tore my ‘long’ head bi out of the shoulder joint. Bruising is visible and pain minimal which I think is expected due to tearing the fucker straight out which numbs the pain receptors in the tendon. My bicep does appear strange now. Huge peak. Plus my shoulder is clicking and hurts like a bugger. Probably due to the destabilization in the area.

I know that if I opt for surgery that I’m looking at 6 weeks + of therapy with an expectation of full power recovery. Yet I’m not exactly rolling in cash - even if it is cheap.

On the other hand with passive therapy, websites have given me a recovery of a loss upwards of 20% power without minimal worry. I do consider myself an athlete but have no want to be lifting gargantuan weights anymore. Especially after this.

Suggestions?

I feel like an old man that should have known better. Sigh.[/quote]

I did much the same, without the weightlifting drama. Slipped and fell down a retaining wall, and as a reached to grab for a handhold I heard and felt a ripping sensation followed by a lout pop.

I tore mine on the opposite end and my bicep has migrated at least 10cm closer to my shoulder. It looks like somebody loped off the top of it while flexed with a chainsaw.

I had a sonogram performed, and while they found significant, deep muscle tearing they didn’t recommend surgery. I’m currently doing mild rehab (ice and heat, light isometric stuff, etc…) and will start in with more aggressive physio gradually over the next 2 weeks. The docs say several months before complete recovery.

The arm looks badly misshapen, the other muscles in my arm twitch involuntarily throughout the day, and it took me 8 days before I could use my bicep to lift my forearm. It remains very, very weak nearly 3 weeks after my fall.

I hope you are doing better than I am…I can see this taking a really long time to recover.
Good luck.

Thanks everyone.

Some good news: after a sonogram (the same shit they scope out babies while in the womb) they told me that yes, I tore my bicep but the muscle itself and not the actual tendon.

Bruising is ugly and it hurts to give it any power when I flex. Plus, my shoulder hurts like a bastard which, I suppose, should be expected.

I’ll level with you people. I don’t trust many of the sports medicine doctors in Taiwan at all.

I’m wondering where I can go from here? How do I safely rehab this on my own? It’s been about two weeks now and I was planning on joining a new gym yet I feel a bit discouraged at the moment.

I really need to shed my weight. I’m 330lbs and still have bouts of ‘reverse anorexia’ because I crave being big and powerful even though I realize that I should get my weight down and do more with my athletics rather than exploit my size and do power movements.

Suggestions?

Thanks again.

:astonished: I’ll never troll you again. I SWEAR! :astonished:

Good to hear you only tore the muscle and not the tendon. Muscles do grow back much better than tendons, partly as they have much better blood supply. Not requiring surgery is a bonus.

I would repair it with very very little weight at all, concentrating on range of movement rather than power. each time you tear it again, and you will even with no weight, will cause more and more scar tissue to build up at the tear site, and eventually that will compromise the ability of the muscle to contract in that area and be a focus for future tears.

Jia you, Monster. That sounds really hurty. Take care of yourself.

[quote=“urodacus”]Good to hear you only tore the muscle and not the tendon. Muscles do grow back much better than tendons, partly as they have much better blood supply. Not requiring surgery is a bonus.

I would repair it with very very little weight at all, concentrating on range of movement rather than power. each time you tear it again, and you will even with no weight, will cause more and more scar tissue to build up at the tear site, and eventually that will compromise the ability of the muscle to contract in that area and be a focus for future tears.[/quote]

This is essentially the premise of bodybuilding. Tear it down - scar tissue build up = larger, more powerful muscles.

I’m just wondering how the heck do I recoup this without hurting myself again? I admit that I’m a bit of an egomaniac in the gym when it comes to lifting heavy (I haven’t seen a person lift nearly as much as myself on a regular basis than myself). This is part of my problem due to my age. 31. I’ve been doing this ‘stupidity’ of lifting heavy off and on for extended periods for over 16 years.

Thanks, B.

Um, scar tissue doesn’t contract.

Fair enough. I reread what you wrote and noticed that I have never been and still am not the premiere expert in this category. The science behind what I have done in the past is admittedly expressed in basic terms.

I just need to know how to rehab this bitch without furthering myself with damage.

What I was trying to say earlier was uh…simple: Tear down the muscle group with vigorous and strenuous exercise and in return you tear the muscle down which leads to scaring of the tissue which then leads to more muscle growth. That to me is the premise of power and strength training.

Fair enough. I reread what you wrote and noticed that I have never been and still am not the premiere expert in this category. The science behind what I have done in the past is admittedly expressed in basic terms.

I just need to know how to rehab this bitch without furthering myself with damage.

What I was trying to say earlier was uh…simple: Tear down the muscle group with vigorous and strenuous exercise and in return you tear the muscle down which leads to scaring of the tissue which then leads to more muscle growth. That to me is the premise of power and strength training.[/quote]
Honestly, mate. Why don’t you go to the hospital. Self help is all good and well, but combine that with a medical opinion and perhaps even some physio to be on the safe side.

:blush: Okay, sorry. I just saw this post…

[quote=“M0NSTER”]Thanks everyone.

Some good news: after a sonogram (the same shit they scope out babies while in the womb) they told me that yes, I tore my bicep but the muscle itself and not the actual tendon.

Bruising is ugly and it hurts to give it any power when I flex. Plus, my shoulder hurts like a bastard which, I suppose, should be expected.

I’ll level with you people. I don’t trust many of the sports medicine doctors in Taiwan at all.

I’m wondering where I can go from here? How do I safely rehab this on my own? It’s been about two weeks now and I was planning on joining a new gym yet I feel a bit discouraged at the moment.

I really need to shed my weight. I’m 330lbs and still have bouts of ‘reverse anorexia’ because I crave being big and powerful even though I realize that I should get my weight down and do more with my athletics rather than exploit my size and do power movements.

Suggestions?

Thanks again.[/quote]
What did they recommend as treatment? Didn’t they say anything about physio? They have some good physiotherapists at Cheng Gung university hospital and there are some good private doctors around. Ask some local friends. Perhaps someone knows a good guy that can help you.

Here are some online articles on the subject:
Torn Bicep
Bodybuilding forum: torn bicep
Torn biceps and triceps

Maybe there’s something useful there, or something that gives you some ideas on what you should do.

Why are you skeptical about going to see someone in Taiwan? Have you had bad experiences thus far?

In terms of some things you can do, you need to get the blood flowing to the area and keep the area flexible. Since it’s badly bruised, blood isn’t flowing so well.

So, you can do exercises to keep it flexible and get the blood flowing. I can think of 4 exercises that would be good for you. You can do simple arm rotations at the elbow joint. Also, you can do shoulder rotations - e.g. the shoulder circles with your arms extended and where you start out with small circles and get larger as you go along. The last two I don’t know what to call them so I’ll describe them as best as possible.

One is starting with feet shoulder length apart, upper body totally relaxed. Simply rotate at the waste (not the hips) and keep the body relaxed so that your arms feel like noodles. Rotate all the way around, your head should lead your body, and rotate until you are looking behind you. Once you reach that point, your arms should, naturally, come around and hit your back around the kidney level. Rotate back and forth for a minute or two.

The final one has you starting with your legs spread apart in split fashion (as far as is comfortable for you). Start with your arms bent perpendicular to the ground, hands pointing upwards, right in front of you. Then, have your right hand go down to your left foot, while your left hand goes up and behind you. When you are going down, you should first watch your hand go down to the foot and then look behind you so that you look at your left hand. The arms should be as straight as possible. Then, return to the starting position and repeat with the other hand. Switch back and forth for a minute or so. Again, your upper body should be relaxed with this although you should feel a stretch while doing it.

Hopefully those make sense. As you are into lifting and BJJ, you probably have done those first two at some point. The latter two you may or may not know. I learned them while studying internal arts / qi gong. They might seem kind of lame but they’ll be helpful. Do all of those daily, say, right when you wake up in the morning.

Finally, if you can get one of those hot, athletic type patches, that will also be good for you as it will increase blood flow to the area. I know that I had used Tiger Balm (pretty sure that was the name) back in the States but not sure what they have in Taiwan.

Oh, and just don’t overwork yourself. You’re definitely the type who’ll want to get right back into the action and push yourself hard again, right? Just remember that and find some way to keep yourself from doing that. Maybe get into some cardio to keep active?

Hope that helps, man.

Ouch! This is precisely why I don’t have any biceps.