RFI - Ruptured bicep tendon

[Paso Quito]

I had an interesting weekend... was loading 50lb bags of horse feed into the Tahoe and felt/heard a loud POP from my left shoulder area. Did some research and found that the new look to the bicep probably meant a ruptured tendon. A doctor visit confirmed this but added that one of the tests indicated that I may have also torn another tendon that forms part of the rotator cuff. This injury is to my non-dominant arm. One good thing though, my shoulder had been hurting badly for the week prior and after the pop it quit hurting! Now it's the bicep hurts when I move it wrong.

The Dr. says if the MRI shows no tear in the rotator cuff that all I need is a little therapy & all will be good. If the other tendon tore he recommends surgery to correct it.

My experience with friends & shoulder surgery is not good. I don't know one person who is glad they had it done.

My question is this: does anyone here have any experience with this injury? Did you have surgery? What are the long term impacts... surgery or not?

I just turned 61 and my athletic days are behind me but I still want to be active outdoors. I think that this issue is due to having too much fun when I was younger and indestructible!

I appreciate your input.

[Duces Tecum]

That doesn't sound like a good thing. Get an opinion from a specialist (ie, a physician who has successfully treated similar injuries).

[Doc_Glock]

If you Poll Orthopedic Surgeons on this issue, and what they would do for their own Biceps rupture, you will find the results pretty evenly split between those who would ignore it and repair it. That is not really helpful, but it is true.

[LSP552]

Sorry to hear this! Hope you heal up fast!

I have a good friend who did this this in elk camp one year while we were unloading water drums. He stayed but wasn’t able to hunt. One of our friends was a medic in Vietnam who put him in a sling and immobilized the arm. He ended up with surgery for a completely detached tendon.

He recovered completely.

[Robert Mitchum]

Triceps tendon rupture 15 1/2 years ago .... came off the bone.
Left side of my shoulder has been cashed for 30 years ..I can not lift my left arm up past shoulder height.
I had the surgeon who worked on the UConn Huskies Football and Basketball teams... he did my Surgery on my Triceps tendon
.
I never had Surgery on my shoulder ..... but have lifted weights ever since.

My Bench press and deadlift are over the State record for 65 year old 242 pound class.
Go to Doctors who work with athletes ..they are the best ones to deal with.


"Injury to the triceps tendon is almost always traumatic. It is usually the result of a strong force that suddenly bends the elbow while the triceps muscle is trying to straighten the arm. This causes the triceps tendon to separate from the bone, which is known as a triceps tendon rupture".

[blues]

I thought I ruptured or tore the biceps tendon but it turned out I had torn the capsule. Orthopedic surgeon said no surgery required and gave me a note for work excusing me from qualifying that quarter. Got my strength back but the bicep never looked quite the same. It looked like it had rolled up a bit toward the shoulder.

When my rotator cuff in the other shoulder was giving me hell I wouldn't submit to a knife and spent months giving myself trigger point therapy after buying the best (expensive) medical volumes on the subject.

It worked but it took a long time until I could lift weights again.

[scjbash]

I tore my bicep tendon and the subscapularis. I felt it happen, and it wasn't my first rodeo with tears. The doctor I saw is supposed to be a great surgeon, worked for two professional sports teams, etc. He insisted it was tendonitis and treated it for over a year with injections and pills. I eventually got fed up with him and changed doctors. The new doc diagnosed the tears with the first physical exam and confirmed it with MRI.

By that point I had serious issues with atrophy and loss of range of movement. I spent almost every day of the next year in physical therapy. I quit going to PT a little over a year ago. Life being life I didn't keep up with it at home like I should have. Just today I was telling someone I'm going to have to start it again. I still have problems with pain, tightness, and strength and stamina in that shoulder. It hurts right now from shooting a couple hundred rounds this evening.

I should have trusted my instincts and what my body was telling me and got a second opinion from the beginning. My advice is to not hesitate to get a second opinion and stick with PT as long as you have to. Don't do something stupid like running a chainsaw for a week before you're truly healed. Find out if any of the good physical therapists in your area have class IV laser therapy available. I received the laser treatment at the end of most sessions and can't recommend it enough. I felt much, much better on days I had the laser than days I didn't. My therapist said he had a lot of success using the laser for those injuries.

[Paso Quito]

Thanks to all for the replies. The doctor I am seeing works for a couple of MLB teams, one NHL team, one arena football team. He seems to know his stuff pretty well even if he also seems to be in quite a hurry. The MRI is tomorrow and I'm hoping to find out I didn't tear the subscapularis like @scjbash. I've done the wait & see thing thinking/hoping it would get better and ended up paying for it later... not going down that road this time. I am highly motivated to do what it takes for a full recovery. I have slowed down a lot since I was 25 but I'm not ready for a rocking chair on the porch yet. I'm praying that PT is all it will take, I really don't want to be cut on again.

I'll look at the trigger point therapy, never heard of it until now.

The laser therapy sounds good. I use infrared LEDs to treat joint inflammation... I have this pretty often as a result of playing sports with reckless abandon when I was younger. Back then we didn't do PT after an injury, we simply suited up as soon as we could walk and went at it again... stupid looking back at it but that was all we knew and I am paying for it now. I will always follow through on PT & at home exercises, especially with a very active wife who helps keep me motivated.

[Malamute]

Are they going to use contrast in the MRI?

When I was injured, they did an MRI (without contrast) on the shoulder and said it wasnt too bad, and just keep doing all the excruciatingly painful PT exercises and other therapy I was getting. After 4 or 5 more months and slowly degrading abilities, the therapist said there was something else wrong and I probably needed surgery. Another MRI,..."Oh, look! Theres more damage than we first thought, you need surgery on that shoulder". To shorten a long story, had the surgery, recovery was complicated by other aspects of the injury. After more than 2 years its still painful in an interesting variety of ways including being able to sleep on that side, doesnt have the range of motion as before, such as problems being able to draw many holster types on the right side, and i still cant shoot any long guns with much recoil right handed. Hoping some shots may help with the pain.

[Paso Quito]

Had the MRI this morning, no contrast. I did have to drive an additional 20 miles to get to the biggest, baddest MRI machine in the valley though. The operator said that it is the most powerful MRI used on people (3 Tesla magnets) and that anything bigger was for research only. Will find out Monday whether it's PT or surgery then PT. The bicep & shoulder don't hurt as much now so I am really hoping for PT only.