Anybody have a Triceps Repair Surgery?

[muscle96ss]

I ruptured my triceps a few weeks ago and had surgery this past monday. It was a complete rupture and one layer was minimally retracted but the other layer was retracted a bit and the doc said that he really had to stretch it to make it fit and even then it felt like it was going to pop off at around 90 degrees of flexion. I am a physical therapist so I have a good idea of how things work but have never worked with a triceps rupture before and am looking for some first-hand experience of what to expect. Thus far I am a little concerned because the immobilization splint still allows a slight bit of motion even though it is wrapped about as tight as you can get it and it keeps sliding down my arm. Also everyone is calling me "the marshmallow man" because my hand is HUGE from swelling. The doctor didn't seem to concerned about this but being a perfectionist it stresses me nonetheless. I am currently scheduled to be put into an immobization brace a week from this tuesday(not sure how much if any ROM he will allow) and then he said I will not be allowed full ROM until 6 weeks.

I am curious what other have experienced and how much swelling did you have at first and did your splint have some give to it? I have very little pain, didn't take any of the pain pills; just discomfort from this 10 pound plaster splint occasionally rubbing the elbow and an occasional twinge when I reflexively make a wrong move(I am right handed and it is taking 3 times as long to everything using only 1 non-dominant arm). Anyways, and feedback from others with similar surgerys would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DOGGCRAPP]

Im always curious about injuries like this.....how did you rupture it?

 

[juggernaught]

I have ruptured my right tri twice and my left once. The second rupt on the right just happened in April. I am at week nine of the surg.I am back to full range of motion and have just started very light therapy.

 

[muscle96ss]

Im always curious about injuries like this.....how did you rupture it?

Back in March I had a bone spur that broke into several pieces at the elbow(only my 2nd injury in over 20 years of lifting that required surgery, coincidentally the first was 2 years ago when I broke a bone spur off the other elbow). Anyways, timing was not good to have the surgery back in March as I need time to prepare to shut the business down for a short while, so we planned to do the surgery the end of July/beginning of August. I was actually going to bump it up a little bit and was going to contact my doc when I got back from my first vacation in 3 years in Myrtle Beach the middle of June as the pain was getting worse(the strength was unchanged though so I assumed that the tendon was probably at minimal risk for rupture although we new there was some risk). Anyways, after several days of lugging all the wife and 2 kids luggage around in a 2 day sleepless trip from Arizona to get settled into our condo in Myrtle I decided to take an afternoon break and head to Golds Gym for a little stress relief(and a break from the kids). I was working shoulders and picked up the 50's for a warm-up set of shoulder db press. Used my knees to get the left and right up and the left began to go up while the right went "pop" and flew several feet forward. End of story. I haven't done that ex in a while and normally start with behind the neck press and I like to first feel the weight and lower it slowly with control. I think starting at the bottom of the exerice without a chance to feel the weight contributed to it along with an already sleep deprived overused triceps tendon; but that just my hypothesis and may be way off base. I am in tune with my body pretty well so it was quite a shock to me. My stats are 5'9", 240, and very veiny except have some fat in the abdominal region that just doesn't come off completely and almost 43 y/o.

 

[turbobusa]

I had an suv try to drive over me in 04. I was on a motorcycle and the woman hit me broad side on my left. Most of my left tricep was pinched in half
from the tire driving up over my arm onto my left side chest and shoulder.
My right tricep was torn completely out of the lower attachment.
That one they reattached with great results. Was in a cast for a while .
The other side was not repaired because they did not find the damage
as they were focused on the the upper arm bone damage.The end of the
humerous(?) was broken off the arm and crushed into 3 pieces. Several ribs were broken clean at the spine. Because that tricep was not repaired
part of the muscle balls up and contracts toward the elbow. The outer head is intact. I think the sooner the better on tricep repair.
By the way my 20 yrs plus of heavy training saved my life. I was 310 at 5 foot nine at the time and the doctors said that saved my life.the reason the right tricep detached was my pushing on the bumper trying not to let that crazy bitch drive all the way over me(instinct) My wife was right behind me and witnessed the whole thing. Naturally my lockout suffers on the left
still. Good luck and best wishes.

 

[nandrthal]

I ruptured my triceps a few weeks ago and had surgery this past monday. It was a complete rupture and one layer was minimally retracted but the other layer was retracted a bit and the doc said that he really had to stretch it to make it fit and even then it felt like it was going to pop off at around 90 degrees of flexion. I am a physical therapist so I have a good idea of how things work but have never worked with a triceps rupture before and am looking for some first-hand experience of what to expect. Thus far I am a little concerned because the immobilization splint still allows a slight bit of motion even though it is wrapped about as tight as you can get it and it keeps sliding down my arm. Also everyone is calling me "the marshmallow man" because my hand is HUGE from swelling. The doctor didn't seem to concerned about this but being a perfectionist it stresses me nonetheless. I am currently scheduled to be put into an immobization brace a week from this tuesday(not sure how much if any ROM he will allow) and then he said I will not be allowed full ROM until 6 weeks.

I am curious what other have experienced and how much swelling did you have at first and did your splint have some give to it? I have very little pain, didn't take any of the pain pills; just discomfort from this 10 pound plaster splint occasionally rubbing the elbow and an occasional twinge when I reflexively make a wrong move(I am right handed and it is taking 3 times as long to everything using only 1 non-dominant arm). Anyways, and feedback from others with similar surgerys would be greatly appreciated.

I had a tricep tear back in 03. I was playing college ball at the time and tore it during practice drills (like you, I heard a loud pop). I continued with the season and it progressively got worse. At the end of the season I got an MRI. Luckily the MRI showed a tear in the msc belly and not the tendon. I had surgery later that year and was in a straight cast for a couple months with physical therepy for the next 4 months.

It healed nicely but now my left tri is a bit atrophied compared to my right. When the doc was debriding the lesion he had to go through some nerves. No biggie chicks dig scars and I always have a good story when people ask me where I got this scar from.

 

[Jake LaMotta]

muscle96ss, I wish you the best of luck. I don't know if you know this but I've had a surgery or two

Call me when you get a chance. I want to hear how your recovery is going.

 

[tflexxin]

I tore my left tri 80% off the bone. They re-attached by drilling holes criss-crossing through my elbow, suturing the muscle and pulling the sutures through the holes and affixing on the other side. I was in my bionic man brace for about 4-6 weeks, with them generally increasing the range of motion every other week or so. i did physical therapy for a couple months, but they didnt do anything I couldnt do at home, so we decided it wasnt worth it. It took a full 6 months to recover, but I was working out at the 3 month point. Very light. It took at least a year for my strength to full recover, and I still have more diffuculty locking out that tri, as well as some reduced stamina in that arm.
My advice is to follow their guidance, but push the therapy as much as possible, work on range of motion, and be smart. I was at least 2 months ahead of "normal" people in my rehab, because I did everything I could to keep my mobility and strength improving from week to week.
Good luck!

 

[muscle96ss]

Wow, listening to all these stories I feel very fortunate as many of you guys had pretty traumatic injuries. Well week 1 down and 1 more week until I get out of this uncomfortable splint and into an uncomfortable ROM brace. I finally realized that the swelling in my hand was due to wrapping the bandage too tight and not something gone wrong. The doctor said that some motion is ok, just avoid too much flexion because one of the bands of muscle was really tight and he doesn't want to have to do a revision because that would involve using a graft. The only problem is that I keep making reflexive moves with my right hand. I think I need to have some sort of nerve block to prevent me from contracting the muscles in the arm.

Jake, been meaning to call you; hopefully will have some free time to make some calls tomorrow.

 

[juggernaught]

I tore my left tri 80% off the bone. They re-attached by drilling holes criss-crossing through my elbow, suturing the muscle and pulling the sutures through the holes and affixing on the other side. I was in my bionic man brace for about 4-6 weeks, with them generally increasing the range of motion every other week or so. i did physical therapy for a couple months, but they didnt do anything I couldnt do at home, so we decided it wasnt worth it. It took a full 6 months to recover, but I was working out at the 3 month point. Very light. It took at least a year for my strength to full recover, and I still have more diffuculty locking out that tri, as well as some reduced stamina in that arm.
My advice is to follow their guidance, but push the therapy as much as possible, work on range of motion, and be smart. I was at least 2 months ahead of "normal" people in my rehab, because I did everything I could to keep my mobility and strength improving from week to week.
Good luck!

T , what did your routine look like when you started back? I am very curious as I am dying to get back in the gym.
Sorry muscle not trying to hijack...

 

[Ashop]

I ruptured my triceps a few weeks ago and had surgery this past monday. It was a complete rupture and one layer was minimally retracted but the other layer was retracted a bit and the doc said that he really had to stretch it to make it fit and even then it felt like it was going to pop off at around 90 degrees of flexion. I am a physical therapist so I have a good idea of how things work but have never worked with a triceps rupture before and am looking for some first-hand experience of what to expect. Thus far I am a little concerned because the immobilization splint still allows a slight bit of motion even though it is wrapped about as tight as you can get it and it keeps sliding down my arm. Also everyone is calling me "the marshmallow man" because my hand is HUGE from swelling. The doctor didn't seem to concerned about this but being a perfectionist it stresses me nonetheless. I am currently scheduled to be put into an immobization brace a week from this tuesday(not sure how much if any ROM he will allow) and then he said I will not be allowed full ROM until 6 weeks.

I am curious what other have experienced and how much swelling did you have at first and did your splint have some give to it? I have very little pain, didn't take any of the pain pills; just discomfort from this 10 pound plaster splint occasionally rubbing the elbow and an occasional twinge when I reflexively make a wrong move(I am right handed and it is taking 3 times as long to everything using only 1 non-dominant arm). Anyways, and feedback from others with similar surgerys would be greatly appreciated.

A very good friend of mine had the same injury not long ago. He had surgery to repair it and was back at about 80% in the gym after 10 weeks of recovery. I couldnt believe the swelling he had at times,,,his arm almost looked animated but his doc said it was completely normal and it does diminish as the recovery process goes forward.