Torn Pec

[CrateBone]

Hello Everyone. I'd thought I'd share a story and a few pics. Basically, every year on my Birthday I try to outdue my previous years lifts. It gives me a gal to shoot for. I start with Bench Press, Then Squats, Deadlifts, Overhead Press, ect.

Well, last year a topped out at 380lbs on the bench down from previous yr of 420lbs. ANyway, on 11/21/06 I worked my way up to 380lbs. Did my one rep fairly easily, so I added another 10lbs. Brought the weight down, began driving it up when I had this feeling like rubber bands snapping in order on the side of my chest. The bar dropped and inch, I pushed again, then called for the spotter to lift the bar off my chest. My finger tips and hand got slightly purple and cold feeling, but got better within the hour. Went to the emergency room , all they did was give me pain killers and sent me home. I made an appointment with a Orthopedic doctor that the Emergency Room doc suggested. he didn't know shit. He said that he hadn't treated an injury like mine and would talk with other doctors. So now I have another appointment with a doctor he recommended next Tuesday to determine if surgury is the best option for me. Meanwhile, I can't lift or do much of anything. I can feel an obvious deformity in muscle as it stretches to my bicep. It feels like somthing took a bite out of it.

Does any of you guys or girls have experience with this injury as far as healing time? Will I ever get strength back? Can I expect to have a deformed looking chest now? I am very active as far as lifting, playing basketball, and playing on a Amature baseball team. Right now, I feel like this injury has taken that away from me.

I'm 33, 6'1, 224Lbs. Been lifting for over 15 years.
Any advise, thoughts, ideas, ect. would be great.

 

[big nasty]

I tore my left pec June 26th of 2004... had an awesome orthopedic sugeon look at it and had an MRI... mine looked very similar to yours and mine ended up being only a "muscle to muscle" tear which basically means that a portion of the muscle ripped apart but as a whole it remained on the bone and the tendon in tact... had surgery July 7th of 2004 and by the first week in August I was lifting my warm up weights on chest movements and by September I was lifting the rest of my body with normal weight and my chest movements were roughly 40 -50% of the weight I used prior to the injury... now its roughly two and a half years later and I am probably at 80 - 90% of my original strength on chest movements... it still feels "different" from the other side and I would compare it to Toney Freeman in terms of looks... not that I look like Toney Freeman(although I'd like to) but its an easy reference in terms of visualizing... your doctor might not have all the info cuz very few pec tears are reported and even fewer are operated on, thats just something my doc told me.. to accredit my doc he has pioneered many knee and shoulder surgeries that are of common use throughout the world today so IMO he knows his shit and I trust him 100%... BTW I'm 28, 6'3", 290lbs, and have been lifting consistently for 16 years

 

[K1]

I'm sorry to hear that bro. I wish you a safe surgury and a speedy recovery!!

 

[CrateBone]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Big Nasty. Your experience gives me some hope.
Actually, I feel alot better today. I went to the gym yesturday evening and did some very light leg workouts. It at least made me feel like I wasn't totally crippled. I'm really glad I did because I was on my way home with a case of beer to drink. Just stepping back into the gym really lifted my spirits I think. I was affraid that I would end up sitting around becoming a lazy slob, but I realize that I have to keep up with a routine regardless. Maybe use this time to lean down and really concentrate on my legs and cardio.

I believe that my tear is just muscle as well because I am able to move my arm around without much pain, although I guess I really haven't tested it either. Yesterday it hurt to put my wallet in my back pocket, today it doesn't.

I read about Toney Freeman. He didn't even get the surgery on his pec for 5 years after the initial injury.

I've been taking 600mg of Ibuprofin every 4-6 hours as well. I think that the swelling is still going down as well.

Thanks again for your replys.
I'll update on my progress as well.

 

[lynx]

That sucks, I sounds like it's already feeling better.

 

[knucklehed]

I am 8 weeks ahead of you...

I ruptured Oct. 11th. doing heavy bench presses. I had surgery 8 days later on Oct. 19th, 7 weeks ago yesterday. First week after surgery is a bitch. but after that things get better fast. I got out of the sling last week.

I have been doing Physical therepy for 5 weeks and have full arnge of motion now, and have begun some lite isometrics. I lost about 10 pounds, but continue to work legs lite and do cardio 2-3 times per week. This last Monday I did some lite back movements including pulldowns, rows and shrugs. Nothing heavy or hard but atleast I am not atrophy'ing away.

My ortho is great! has worked for the Denver Broncos and Colorado Rockies doing shoulders and elbows mostly but has done several pec repairs as well. I highly recommend you find a experienced sports ortho to work on you for best results.

If you have any questions please feel free to PM me. I have been very successful accelerating my healing with certain compounds and have absolutely amazed my doc with my recovery. Of corse I credit his work, but he says it is amazing how well I am doing.

good luck bro
KH

 

[saint]

Cratebone I had a similar tear to yours and I'll see if I still have a few of the pic.s on my cpu. My tear was muscle also and I had alot of black and blue in the same area. I had just benched 405 and dropped a plate to get some reps of 315 and on the way down I'll never forget the sound of ripping and the cold feeling in my chest. After seeing several Dr.s the told me in my case since the muscle did not pull away from the bone I just had to wait and rest and see how things grow back. I trained in the gym 1 week after on legs and cardio 2 weeks later I tried a few bicep exercises, You never know how much your chest helps on diffrent exercises until you tear one. 5 weeks later I started bench again I did go up to 315 pretty quick but I stil now very rarely go over 350-360. My chest looks the same and I still compete and I can tell were the tear was but you can't really notice it. Good luck and don't push it in the gym for awhile give it rest and plenty of food and vit. and slowly work it back to 100%
Saint

 

[Grunt76]

Pin it with IGF-1 after surgery to make it heal much much faster.

Good luck with the injury bro.

 

[elings]

SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOU INJURY HOPE YOU GET WELL SOON

 

[CrateBone]

Everyone,

Thanks for all the replys. Saint & Knucklehed, Hearing your stories really help me stay positive.

Basically feeling a constant dull pain and an occasional sharp one when I move my arm to fast. I realized I won't be picking up my little girl for a while..

knucklehed, if I have any questions I will definitely PM you.

I'll keep you posted on my progress..

Everyone has been very helpful..

 

[DragonRider]

Your tear looks good compared to mine. I went to the ER and the doctor told me there was nothing they could do for it. It didn't hurt much at all despite how it looks and I didn't even get pain medication.
I rehabed mine by stretching it with a light weight for a few weeks. Within 90 days I was benching 80% of my pre injury weight.
I have a permanet deformity. My lower pec bunches up toward the middle when I flex.



I'm curious if there is a way to prevent these type of injuries. Everyone I have talked to who tore something did it AFTER a thorough warm up AND with a weight they have used before. You would assume people tear a muscle attempting a new PR, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[Grunt76]

I would sue that doctor. A good surgeon could have repaired it.

 

[Tman2002]

mines

heres mine

 

[tflexxin]

No matter what, go see an orthopedic specialist. Pec tears are not all that painful after they happen, unless it is a complete rupture, but they are a pain in the ass to rehab.

 

[alan1973]

dude, I know how nasty they can look. did the same with a minor muscle in my Hamsting.
left a dark black spot about 6 inches across for the longest time until it turned yellow.

funny, when I saw those first pictures you posted, CrateBone, I thought someone had taken my pics. I had pretty much the same build back in March, and you have the same chain that I do and it looks about the same length too.
BROTHER! Where ya been?!?!

 

[CrateBone]

Whoa, Tman, DragonRider, Grunt 76, The bruising you guys had looks 10X worse then mine was. I didn't notice much at all on my arm.

Well, I got the MRI results back on Monday and it showed a rupture of the Tendon at the insertion point on the Humorus. With Adema (fluid buidup) along the side of the Pectoralis. I don't think it was a complete tear, I'm not really sure. I lost confidence in the doctor I was seeing and bailed out on the Surgery which was suppose to be this past Tuesday. It seemed like I was telling him more about the injury then he could tell me, so I did some more research and talked with people at the gym and found the name of the Orthepedic doctor that takes care of Local Professional and College teams.

I tested myself yesterday with very , VERY, light weight and found I can do almost all exercises without pain, except for Benching and Shoulder press.
the doctor told me not to try and use more then 2lbs or 5lbs dumbells. I tried the 5 lbs and I can do it, but it feels very unusual as it seems to really pull hard under my arm and on the extreme side of my chest. I decided to try teh bar and it felt to uncomforable to even lower down more then 6 inches. I still have quite a bit of swelling, but the bruising is gone.

the injury occurred on 11/21/06. I was planning to increase the weight on various exercises by 5-10 lbs a week. Do you think I am rushing it? I used 40lbs for curls, 50lbs for Pull downs, 5lbs Dumbell (Bench)Press, 10lbs dumbbell Overhead Press. 50lbs Cable rows. ect.

I figure after 1 more month, I'll reassess my progress in order to decide if I should go for a 3rd opinion. The bills are definitely mounting up so that is also concern of mine. I have no idea of how much surgery would cost, but right now I feel pretty good that I will be able to rehab it. I will be happy if I can do reps with 225lbs again.

thanks for all the comments

 

[Grunt76]

Dude, IMO you need surgery period, none of that "slowly increasing weights"... The muscle is not going to magically re-attach.

If you decide against it, at least run a cycle of Var/Deca/Eq no test to strengthen what is left of your tendon... With *TINY* weights.

 

[powerlift2000]

I tore my pec back in 1999 while benching out of town with a buddy..had to fly back with two bags and one arm working. Mine looked similar to the pics posted here, had purple/black bruising down the arm to the elbow and on the chest itself. I could litterally feel the muscle tear and twirl up under the chest mustle. It tore completely off the bone. They had to attach it back with 3 surcher anchors. I honestly felt less pain before surgery than after..after the surgery it was a bitch for a week, but 3 days after surgery I was back in the gym doing opposite arm work. Back then my best bench was just 325. A year later I had hit 315 and 2 years after surgery I had hit 350. My best bench now is 475 in competition, 500 in the gym. So just take care of it and dont sit around not train at all, do what you can but keep it light at first and learn to do alot of warmups and static stretching after you regain full ROM.

 

[Jake LaMotta]

I completely ruptured mine back on March 21, 2006 while heavy bench pressing. It was the absolute worst pain I've ever experienced in my life. I seriously thought I was gonna throw up. My pec, shoulder, and bicep were all black and blue and swollen. I went to the doc, got an MRI and found out I had COMPLETELY ruptured my pectoral tendon at the musculo-tendon junction. 7 weeks later I had surgery on May 9, 2006. I was 26 years old 6' 240 (with a gut) all natural (not even creatine).

I had some complications after surgery that required me to get a bone spur removed from my humurus bone, a biceps tenodesis, a partial labrum tear repair, and a subacromial decompression. I plan on getting back to the gym in a couple of weeks. Obviously I hit some unforeseen road blocks but my situation is not the norm. Trust me, you will be OK. This is what you need to do:

1. Find a good sports ortho doc in your area
2. Have him look at your MRI
3. Get the surgery (trust me, based on what your describing, he's definitly gonna recommend surgery)
4. Where your sling as long as prescribed
5. Go to PT
6. Rest (don't do anything stupid with the arm)
7. Keep hydrated and keep a clean diet
8. After PT SLOWLY get back into LIGHT lifting (usually about 12 weeks post op)

Remember it can take up to 18 months for a tendon to completely heal after surgery so ease back into things.

There have been plenty of pro athletes who have come back from this injury and surgery such as Michael Strahan (NFL player), Junior Seau (NFL player), Phil Baroni (MMA fighter), The Undertaker (WWE wrestler), Kevin Levrone (pro bodybuilder), Tony Freeman (pro bodybuilder), and even Sylvester Stallone (yes even Rocky). There's no reason why you can't come back as well. Just stay positive.

You can read about my situation here:

http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20957

 

[Grunt76]

I completely ruptured mine back on March 21, 2006 while heavy bench pressing. It was the absolute worst pain I've ever experienced in my life. I seriously thought I was gonna throw up. My pec, shoulder, and bicep were all black and blue and swollen. I went to the doc, got an MRI and found out I had COMPLETELY ruptured my pectoral tendon at the musculo tendon junction. 7 weeks later I had surgery on May 9, 2006. I was 26 years old 6' 240 (with a gut) all natural (not even creatine).

I had some complications after surgery that required me to get a bone spur removed from my humurus bone, a biceps tenodesis, a partial labrum tear repair, and a subacromial decompression. I plan on getting back to the gym in a couple of weeks. Obviously I hit some unforeseen road blocks but my situation is not the norm. Trust me, you will be OK. This is what you need to do:

1. Find a good sports ortho doc in your area
2. Have him look at your MRI
3. Get the surgery (trust me, based on what your describing, he's definitly gonna recommend surgery)
4. Where your sling as long as prescribed
5. Go to PT
6. Rest (don't do anything stupid with the arm)
7. Keep hydrated and keep a clean diet
8. After PT SLOWLY get back into LIGHT lifting (usually about 12 weeks post op)

Remember it can take up to 18 months for a tendon to completely heal after surgery so ease back into things.

There have been plenty of pro athletes who have come back from this injury and surgery such as Michael Strahan (NFL player), Junior Seau (NFL player), Phil Baroni (MMA fighter), The Undertaker (WWE wrestler), Kevin Levrone (pro bodybuilder), Tony Freeman (pro bodybuilder), and even Sylvester Stallone (yes even Rocky). There's no reason why you can't come back as well. Just stay positive.

You can read about my situation here:

http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20957

Very good advice here.

I would add though that throwing in hGH, IGF-1, Anavar, Deca and Eq will speed up healing by a large factor. Not that this would authorise doing any weight with that pec during the first month, but after that things should go well.