Bicep torn

[whoremoan]

button procedure. here is a pic of the atrophy after 6 weeks in a cast. arm holding the phone is my good arm, the free arm is the damaged arm.

looks good , atrophied a bit but that’s a given
I heard a few people say they were fully recovered and arm back to previous size within a year

 

[xpoc]

looks good , atrophied a bit but that’s a given
I heard a few people say they were fully recovered and arm back to previous size within a year

I don't have any before/after pics of the gap, but it is significant. Sure, higher peak now, but it looks flat around the elbow and up for 2", whereas my strong arm has maybe 3/4" gap only.

 

[whoremoan]

I don't have any before/after pics of the gap, but it is significant. Sure, higher peak now, but it looks flat around the elbow and up for 2", whereas my strong arm has maybe 3/4" gap only.

how long after surgery were you in pain for? Did you get a sore shoulder/upper back too on injured side ???
I’m second day after surgery and it’s really uncomfortable

 

[xpoc]

how long after surgery were you in pain for? Did you get a sore shoulder/upper back too on injured side ???
I’m second day after surgery and it’s really uncomfortable

It hurt steady for at least a week. Then it would only be sore when I moved it wrong, sneezed, yawned or somehow jerked my body. Sleeping was very difficult. Showering was an issue since I couldn't get my arm wet. I had to have my wife squeeze the body soap into my hand. It is amazing how much you rely on both arms being functional...stuff like tying my shoes, cutting meat, opening a pill bottle etc. were all a chore. But, to answer your second question, I did not get pain in my shoulder/upper back. I did have extensive swelling that was very uncomfortable and that lasted for months.

 

[whoremoan]

It hurt steady for at least a week. Then it would only be sore when I moved it wrong, sneezed, yawned or somehow jerked my body. Sleeping was very difficult. Showering was an issue since I couldn't get my arm wet. I had to have my wife squeeze the body soap into my hand. It is amazing how much you rely on both arms being functional...stuff like tying my shoes, cutting meat, opening a pill bottle etc. were all a chore. But, to answer your second question, I did not get pain in my shoulder/upper back. I did have extensive swelling that was very uncomfortable and that lasted for months.

we’re you on any painkillers or anything ? So when you got your cast on you did legs and cardio ??
Haha yeah it’s definetly hard to function with one arm
So rehab at first was painful?
How long since you had your surgery ? How are you feeling now

 

[xpoc]

we’re you on any painkillers or anything ? So when you got your cast on you did legs and cardio ??
Haha yeah it’s definetly hard to function with one arm
So rehab at first was painful?
How long since you had your surgery ? How are you feeling now

Yes painkillers needed for first couple days. Then only before bed. I ultimately went through the entire prescription (prob 30 pills) but never had to renew it.

While casted, I trained LEGS and my STRONG side (right side). I followed Dr. Scott Stevenson's Fortitude training program (turbo version) to the letter. I chose turbo because you work legs every workout. It's basically total body training 4x per week.

I was going to ONLY train legs to avoid imbalances in upper body. That was until I did some research and learned about the term "crossover education" where when you train one side of your body, the other side also benefits significantly. So I trained only using my right arm for upper body movements. I would highly recommend this as I maintained almost all my muscle mass on my injured side EXCEPT the actual biceps. But shoulders, chest, back on the left side looked identical to right side after training in this manner. I started Fortitude training the day after my surgery which was in early Dec. 2022.

I would say rehab was NOT painful. I was literally squeezing a racquetball and working on straightening my arm, rotating my hand etc. We didn't touch any resistance for 12 weeks post op.

It has now been 18 weeks post op and I feel great. I haven't tried to really push the bicep yet, and I am working with lighter loads and higher reps in all pulling movements. I am finally starting to come close to failure on that left side with pulling movements. Pushing movements are not impacted whatsover by the surgery, so it is business as usual with pushing exercises.

My only complaint is the large GAP from my left elbow to left biceps. It looks really weird when I flex it. I already had short biceps with high peaks, so this makes the left side look extra weird. One of my buddies who trains with me on occasion is an IFBB pro (andrew hudson) and he had naturally long flat biceps. After he tore his biceps and had surgery he liked the look better as it gave him a better peak and he had length to sacrifice. I did not have length to sacrifice as mine were already very short.

 

[whoremoan]

Yes painkillers needed for first couple days. Then only before bed. I ultimately went through the entire prescription (prob 30 pills) but never had to renew it.

While casted, I trained LEGS and my STRONG side (right side). I followed Dr. Scott Stevenson's Fortitude training program (turbo version) to the letter. I chose turbo because you work legs every workout. It's basically total body training 4x per week.

I was going to ONLY train legs to avoid imbalances in upper body. That was until I did some research and learned about the term "crossover education" where when you train one side of your body, the other side also benefits significantly. So I trained only using my right arm for upper body movements. I would highly recommend this as I maintained almost all my muscle mass on my injured side EXCEPT the actual biceps. But shoulders, chest, back on the left side looked identical to right side after training in this manner. I started Fortitude training the day after my surgery which was in early Dec. 2022.

I would say rehab was NOT painful. I was literally squeezing a racquetball and working on straightening my arm, rotating my hand etc. We didn't touch any resistance for 12 weeks post op.

It has now been 18 weeks post op and I feel great. I haven't tried to really push the bicep yet, and I am working with lighter loads and higher reps in all pulling movements. I am finally starting to come close to failure on that left side with pulling movements. Pushing movements are not impacted whatsover by the surgery, so it is business as usual with pushing exercises.

My only complaint is the large GAP from my left elbow to left biceps. It looks really weird when I flex it. I already had short biceps with high peaks, so this makes the left side look extra weird. One of my buddies who trains with me on occasion is an IFBB pro (andrew hudson) and he had naturally long flat biceps. After he tore his biceps and had surgery he liked the look better as it gave him a better peak and he had length to sacrifice. I did not have length to sacrifice as mine were already very short.

Do your pumps feel the same in injured arm? I gather your more so doing pump training with biceps now? I think I will only ever aim for bump with biceps from now on, me chasing numbers on such a small muscle group is probably half the reason mine tore

In the first week after surgery did you sometimes feel bicep contract ? Lol? Sometimes in the middle of the night mine will contract or as though the nerves are re firing or something lol it doesn’t hurt but it feels weird , almost like it’s settling in?
All my fingers are able to move and have feeling except top of my thumb is still numb

Cannot wait to get plaster off it’s so fucking itchy in one spot lol

 

[NeveReveN]

Hey guys I have a bicep distal tear and I have to get survey anyone have experience with this?

I’ve torn both biceps. Left distally, right proximally.

The don’t fix, typically, proximal tears and I didn’t have mine fixed.

The distal tear on my left arm, I got fixed within 2 days of the injury.

At the time I was scheduled to attend RKC Trainer certification just 11 weeks from the surgery. I was told not to count on being able to do it - - it’s 3 days of very physical kettlebell moves, pretty grueling.

I continued to train everything except my left arm. I increased my cardio, tightened up my diet. At 6 weeks exactly I started physical therapy. After two weeks of way too easy IMO therapy, I started training my arm directly again. And I started some kettlebell work, carefully.

When the time came to go to California for the certification weekend, I felt 60/40 I’d be able to do it. And I was able to do it. They call the RKC certification the “blackbelt of personal trainer certifications.”

Since then, it’s been a decade, I have some regular pain, minor, in my right arm around the elbow and shoulder. It gets tight and if I can really straighten it out, flexing the triceps, so that joint pops, it feels better.

Other than that, I’ve been good to go. As far as size, the right one (unattached proximal tendon) is definitely smaller. It’s consistently 1/2” to 1” smaller than the left one I had repaired (distal).

All in all, it’s not nearly as bad as I expected and as I’ve heard it could be. The key, as the doctor told me was repair it very quickly, especially for a bodybuilder. The longer the gap from tear to repair, the more the biceps shrinks up and harder it is to pull it back into place and reattach. My arms were pretty big, not huge, 19”, and the doctor said that I might not be able to straighten it out again after attachment. But I just focused on stretching it more and more as more time passed and I felt safe and confident doing so.

So get it fixed. Take it easy on it for a few months, and you’ll be fine.

 

[whoremoan]

I’ve torn both biceps. Left distally, right proximally.

The don’t fix, typically, proximal tears and I didn’t have mine fixed.

The distal tear on my left arm, I got fixed within 2 days of the injury.

At the time I was scheduled to attend RKC Trainer certification just 11 weeks from the surgery. I was told not to count on being able to do it - - it’s 3 days of very physical kettlebell moves, pretty grueling.

I continued to train everything except my left arm. I increased my cardio, tightened up my diet. At 6 weeks exactly I started physical therapy. After two weeks of way too easy IMO therapy, I started training my arm directly again. And I started some kettlebell work, carefully.

When the time came to go to California for the certification weekend, I felt 60/40 I’d be able to do it. And I was able to do it. They call the RKC certification the “blackbelt of personal trainer certifications.”

Since then, it’s been a decade, I have some regular pain, minor, in my right arm around the elbow and shoulder. It gets tight and if I can really straighten it out, flexing the triceps, so that joint pops, it feels better.

Other than that, I’ve been good to go. As far as size, the right one (unattached proximal tendon) is definitely smaller. It’s consistently 1/2” to 1” smaller than the left one I had repaired (distal).

All in all, it’s not nearly as bad as I expected and as I’ve heard it could be. The key, as the doctor told me was repair it very quickly, especially for a bodybuilder. The longer the gap from tear to repair, the more the biceps shrinks up and harder it is to pull it back into place and reattach. My arms were pretty big, not huge, 19”, and the doctor said that I might not be able to straighten it out again after attachment. But I just focused on stretching it more and more as more time passed and I felt safe and confident doing so.

So get it fixed. Take it easy on it for a few months, and you’ll be fine.

I did mine left distal also

How did your distal look after 6 months ? Did it look the same as before or bicep noticeably higher up arm?

I got my surgery a week after injury

 

[NeveReveN]

Hey guys I have a bicep distal tear and I have to get survey anyone have experience with this?

Get it fixed as soon as possible. Follow the doctors rehab prescription with a physical therapist. You will get all of your strength back within a year, if you don’t cause more damage by pushing too hard too soon. You will worry about tearing it as you start to regain strength, but if you’re methodical and cautious, you’ll eventually have no worries about reinsuring it.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that biceps will never be as big as it was or as big as the other one. It will be shaped very differently, permanently.

I tore my left biceps distally 100% in 2009. I tore the right one proximally around 2015, about 80%. They reattached the left one and just cleaned up and fully severed the frayed tendon on the right one. So both my arms are a bit misshapen now.

Recently, this past year, I’ve been having a lot of numbness in my left hand and pains from that elbow up and down that arm. I’m pretty sure it’s got something to do with the reattachment and the button installed. Haven’t been to a doctor yet about it since it’s mostly a night time issue. Doesn’t affect strength or daily activities, yet.

All in all as bad as it may seem, with modern surgical techniques, a biceps tear doesn’t have to be a big deal. It wasn’t for me. I even completed the RKC certification program, which is very physical, 3 months after that left biceps tear.

 

[NeveReveN]

You could always get on the treadmill. It would depend on which part was torn where the bicep would go.

You can still do a lot of work in the gym without using that biceps.

 

[NeveReveN]

I don't have any before/after pics of the gap, but it is significant. Sure, higher peak now, but it looks flat around the elbow and up for 2", whereas my strong arm has maybe 3/4" gap only.

Same here. The gap is 50% wider on the torn side than the other arm.

One thing I thought might help, and did, some, to fill in that gap (the biceps is never filling it in now) was to focus more effort on the brachialis part of my forearms, the top of the forearm. Rope curls, reverse curls of all kinds, Farmer’s walks, etc.. Fill some of the gap in from the other side, basically.

 

[whoremoan]

Get it fixed as soon as possible. Follow the doctors rehab prescription with a physical therapist. You will get all of your strength back within a year, if you don’t cause more damage by pushing too hard too soon. You will worry about tearing it as you start to regain strength, but if you’re methodical and cautious, you’ll eventually have no worries about reinsuring it.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that biceps will never be as big as it was or as big as the other one. It will be shaped very differently, permanently.

I tore my left biceps distally 100% in 2009. I tore the right one proximally around 2015, about 80%. They reattached the left one and just cleaned up and fully severed the frayed tendon on the right one. So both my arms are a bit misshapen now.

Recently, this past year, I’ve been having a lot of numbness in my left hand and pains from that elbow up and down that arm. I’m pretty sure it’s got something to do with the reattachment and the button installed. Haven’t been to a doctor yet about it since it’s mostly a night time issue. Doesn’t affect strength or daily activities, yet.

All in all as bad as it may seem, with modern surgical techniques, a biceps tear doesn’t have to be a big deal. It wasn’t for me. I even completed the RKC certification program, which is very physical, 3 months after that left biceps tear.

does the pump feel different after distal tear recovered?
could you still compete as a bodybuilder or does it look that bad?

 

[KillerStack]

Guy at the gym said he felt fully healed after like 6 weeks after surgery! Lol. "I did my rehab religiously." Alex Kikel has claimed he can heal muscle tears in like one third of the estimated time Lol.

I did my rehab but I was extra careful when curling with the injured arm even 16 weeks after. Surgeon said, no, no at 16 weeks you are cleared to lift as normal, you can/should use maximal loads! "The goal is not to recover some semblance of previous function but to get you 100% back to your previous strenght!" Just avoid yanking the weights.

Now it's been a year and I still don't dare to go to absolute max. I can feel the tendon and it gets more DOMS. Still some loss of sensation on my forearm skin, but nerves are growing back.

 

[Jgardn14]

Hey guys I have a bicep distal tear and I have to get survey anyone have experience with this?

Good luck buddy