Torn muscle surgery question?

lazer05 · Nov 10, 2010

Has anyone here had surgery to repair a torn muscle? A rupture in the muscle that is, not a muscle torn from a tendon or a tendon from the bone.

Asking because I ruptured my pec 3 weeks ago and the tear is completely in the muscle, not with the tendon or the bone. I have asked a few high level bodybuilders and a couple of Dr's I know and for the most part I am hearing surgery for muscle and muscle does not really work. One Dr online says he has had a 50% success rate with these procedures but most everyone else says it will not work... My Dr says he really is not sure and I would need the surgen to look at it and prob an MRI

Any advise would be great as I do not have insurance and since I am largely hearing they cannot repair this I do not want to drop hundreds of bucks (or more)to have the surgen look at it and say he can't do anything.

Info for you all on the injury--

5 weeks ago I was training chest and on rep 14 with 315 lbs, barbell bench, I felt a tight and hard pull in my upper right pec in front of the armpit. Racked the weight and had to stop training chest. Felt this 3 times many years ago when benching 405 for 6 before a powerlifting meet. Those times I took a week or two off and was right back into it.

Well, after this I took two weeks off as my pec was still sore the next week, and VERY tight. After the two weeks off I warmed up and it felt good so I worked back up to 315 and on rep number 9 my right pec tore exactly where it had been tight and sore... SUCKS... My spotter even heard it tear, not fun.

Not much pain, not a ton of internal bleeding compared to other pics I have seen but the pec is clearly deformed from the tear as the area of the pec in front of the armpit is now partially gone... SUCKS

tenny · Nov 10, 2010

tore mine alittle over 6 weeks ago
slight pec major and pec minor
no tendon damage

3 surgons said nothing they can do

and that most of the time
ruptures can grow back pretty rapidly

i working now to get rid of the scar tissue
extreme massage, heat some nights, stretching

soul_fly · Nov 10, 2010

Think of it as sewing scrambled eggs together, it just won't work

The Dude · Nov 10, 2010

I had the same thing happen and from the sound of it and what you described you also tore the muscle away from the tendon a bit. Surgery didn't work at all. I'm still working with it 10 years later. You can definately tell in a front double bicep shot. Mine took quite a while to recover.

tenny · Nov 10, 2010

The Dude said:
I had the same thing happen and from the sound of it and what you described you also tore the muscle away from the tendon a bit. Surgery didn't work at all. I'm still working with it 10 years later. You can definately tell in a front double bicep shot. Mine took quite a while to recover.

see........mine.....(even though not fully healed yet)
the front double looks good, like nothing ever happen
if i do a crab most muscular you can see something happend
small divot.....he said 4 more weeks and i can start training chest
with light weights

only time will tell

lazer05 · Nov 12, 2010

Here are pics of it, 3 weeks after it happened.

The Dude · Nov 12, 2010

Damn bro, I hate to say it, but that looks exactly like mine.... Its a rupture. The muscle pulled from the tendon. Surgery rarely works. It didn't for me and just made recovery longer. I would give it at least 8 weeks. Id probably start using ultrasound and deep tissue massages to prevent too much scar tissue. IGF will help tremendously, but its never going to feel the same. You'll learn to work with it. I do nothing with a barbell, but I've still been able to build a thick chest and very well developed physique. Take your time on the weights, but be aggressive with the massages and ultrasound is awesome.