distal bicep tendon tear

[spike]

I have recently had surgery to repair a detached bicep tendon. I would like to hear from anyone who has had the same injury. I am wondering how long to take off from the gym and how long it will take to repair. I have been told it will return to full strength eventually.

 

[weight77]

It is never as long as the docs tell ya. The will put it back together and scar tissue will fill the area and take the place of the lost tissue.

 

[spike]

I have been told 3 months no gym and then 6 months before any direct bicep work.

 

[weight77]

well everything takes time, you should not judge the success of the surgery on how fast you get back in the gym, but judge it on how well the shape of you bicep is. If you have good shape you are lucky.

 

[big-al]

4 years ago i completely detached my left biceps tendon. They drilled a hole through my forearm and reattached it. I started physical therapy about 6 weeks after the operation. Then I started working out lightly about 4 weeks after therapy. It was about 9 months until I was at abaout 100%, but I think a lot of that was mental.
I tore it doing preacher curls and it was about 15 months before I did preacher curls again. lol.
Anyway, that was my experience. It doesn't look exactly the same. Now the insertion point is closer to the bend in my arm. I still don't have full supination of my left hand but I have the full range of motion back everywhere else.

 

[spike]

Thats what i wanted to hear Big Al, though the surgery i had was slightly different , in that they used anchor sutures to reattach my tendon, i also have more scarring than the boyd anderson technique they used on you. my bicep seems to be slightly higher than norm when my arm is straight, though it does seem the same when flexed. i think the scarring on my upper arm is stopping my bicep from coming all the way down when straight hopefully this will normalise as the swelling aroound the scar goes down.

 

[flexmaster]

I tore the short head of my right bicep completely off the tendon last year, the damn doctor told me she didn't think it would be worth it to re-attatch it, even though I'm only 20 years old. Now when I flex I have a HUGE peak from the long head and the short head only goes like halfway up my upper arm. I was thinking about getting it re-attatched so I can compete in the future, didn't think anyone else had the same problem.

 

[md2b]

Just be sure to ease back into things slowly. At 6 months, you may think that it's back to 100% when in reality it's more like 75%. If you overdo it again, you'll be in the same predicament. Tendons heal especially slow due to their limited blood supply.

 

[gravityfighter]

Got a partial tear last year doing Yate's rows,(inside head at the elbow) took about 6mo's to quit reminding me I had a bum arm and about another 4 before it was back to full strength...still looks f#$ked up, doc said not much he can do to fix the appearance

 

[koolio]

i had a complete rupture of my left quad tendon in june 2002...i know that you are interested in bicep tears but let me tell you about my nightmare...my orthopod did the surgery 2 days after the tear...i contracted a blood infection from the surgery...3 weeks later i am back in to have the entire surgery redone by the senior member of the orthopedic office at the cleveland clinic...this time i spent 1 week in the hospital hooked to an antibiotic IV...just before being released from the hospital i had to have a pic line inserted into my right bicep...the line went directly to my heart..from this line i had a tube connected to an IV and a small pump in a fanny pack...i had to wear this for 5 weeks...i had an antibiotic pumped into me 24/7...i had to have a nurse come over twice a week to take blood...i had to see the blood doc once aweek...long story short (haha)...i went to rehab and was back squatting light by october...HOWEVER, my knee almost 2 years later is still not the samt...the lower quad is atrophied and no amount of rehab or training have helped...my quad muscle is not the same...i can flex my right quad and and see all 4 muscles clearly...my left quad is all funny looking...especially the vastus lateralis...it is now at least 3 inches higher on my bad knee than my good knee...make sure the doctor isn't picking his arse when is cutting you LOL.......................

 

[BigRealBig]

Just had the same surgery five weeks ago .. the Boyd Anderson technique where they drilled through my forearm. I heard from my surgeon that it would be six months before I could weight train without restriction, but I should get back to full strength someday. My physical therapist though said that I may never get back full strength. My range of motion and supination is almost at 100% already, just five weeks out.

Anyone know a good physical therapist in L.A. who understands bodybuilders?

Flexmaster: the longer you wait to reattach, the less likely you will find a surgeon willing to do it. You should explore the possibility with an orthopedic surgeon ASAP.

 

[JETHRO TULL]

I TORE MY RIGHT BICEP.

I HAD THE SURGURY. I AM GLAD I DID. I WAS CAREFUL. THE THING I DID THAT REALLY WORKED WAS...HEAT AND RANGE OF MOTION. I KNELT BESIDE THE BATHTUB, WITH MY ARM SOAKING IN THE HOT WATER AND TURNED THE WRIST AGAIN AND AGAIN, SUPINATE, PRONATE....UNTIL I HAD IT ALL BACK. ONE THING I DID WAS EXERCISED THE GOOD ARM HARD BEFORE I WAS OUT OF THE CAST. THAT SOUNDS STUPID TO SOME FOLKS. BUT, THE BODY TRIES TO HAVE 'BILATERAL SYMETRY' IT WANTS TO LOOK THE SAME ON BOTH SIDES. I DID VERY LIGHT MOVEMENTS WITH IT FOR A FEW WEEKS. I ABSOLUTELY DIDN'T WANT TO INJURE IT AGAIN. STAY VERY, VERY LIGHT. I DID THE 2 AND 1/2 POUND PLATES WATCHING TV.....FOR THE REASON THE ABOVE GENTLEMENT STATED. THE TENDONS HAVE A POOR BLOOD SUPPLY. TIME: 4 WEEKS IN THE CAST....ANOTHER FEW WEEKS, RANGE OF MOTION, FIRST BENCH WORKOUT OUT OF THE CAST WAS WICKED....YOU IMMEDIATELY LEARN JUST HOW MUCH THE BICEPS STABILIZE THE ARMS DURING PRESSING MOVEMENTS! THE RIGHT ARM WAS WOBBLING ALL OVER THE PLACE. IT COMES BACK WELL. BE HAPPY...MAKES A GUY TRAIN SMARTER.....A GOOD LESSON FOR ME ACTUALLY.

LONG STORY SHORT. MY BICEPS WHICH WERE HIGH TO BEGIN WITH...LOOK GOOD. THE ONE THAT WAS REPAIRED IS BETTER THAN MY LEFT ONE IN MY OPINION. I COMPETED IN BOTH POWERLIFTING AND BODYBUILDING AFTER SURGURY. AS FAR AS TRAINING GOES....BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY.
GOOD LUCK.......I MUST HAVE HAD SOME FROM THE SOUNDS OF IT!