Did I tear my bicep muscle ?

[test_for_life]

Hi everyone,

Its been a while. Nice to see some old faces. Anyways, here is my situation. 2 days ago, I was doing heavy preacher curls for 6 to 8 reps and during my 4th set as I was going down to a negative position, I heard a tearing or popping sound. I put the weight down immediately and lost all strength in my right arm. The pain was near my elbow and bottom bicep. I then left and headed to the doctor immediately in an open clinic without an appointment. Right now I am waiting for a ultrasound of my bicep which could take 2 weeks with a private clinic.

Right now my injured arm looks inflated and bruised around my lower bicep all the way to my upper forearm. I cant lift nothing as its quite painful. The doctor said that he could not be 100% sure if its a muscle tear unless the ultrasound is complete. Does anyone have any experience with this situation. I could still cook, drive and do everyday things. But could not train. To give you an idea. I barbell curl 105 for 10 reps in strict form on average and right now I cant even curl the bar as I have no strength and the pain is really bad.

This sucks, my training was going better than ever and was in my best shape yet. Hoping its nothing too serious that will keep me out of the gym for weeks. :(

[LondonMuscle]

if you have bruising and swelling, that is not the result of an injection, you can basically be assured that you have torn a muscle

[gojimmygo]

Sent ya a pm. Hopefully it's helpful.

[BDH]

Why is it taking 2 weeks to get an ultrasound? You should be able to get in right away, same as an xray...

[Praetorian]

Hi everyone,

Its been a while. Nice to see some old faces. Anyways, here is my situation. 2 days ago, I was doing heavy preacher curls for 6 to 8 reps and during my 4th set as I was going down to a negative position, I heard a tearing or popping sound. I put the weight down immediately and lost all strength in my right arm. The pain was near my elbow and bottom bicep. I then left and headed to the doctor immediately in an open clinic without an appointment. Right now I am waiting for a ultrasound of my bicep which could take 2 weeks with a private clinic.

Right now my injured arm looks inflated and bruised around my lower bicep all the way to my upper forearm. I cant lift nothing as its quite painful. The doctor said that he could not be 100% sure if its a muscle tear unless the ultrasound is complete. Does anyone have any experience with this situation. I could still cook, drive and do everyday things. But could not train. To give you an idea. I barbell curl 105 for 10 reps in strict form on average and right now I cant even curl the bar as I have no strength and the pain is really bad.

This sucks, my training was going better than ever and was in my best shape yet. Hoping its nothing too serious that will keep me out of the gym for weeks. :(

I have torn both bicep tendons...one in each arm(both distal) and it does sound like you have torn something....the question is...is it the muscle itself or the tendon attaching the muscle to the lower arm. IMO it is a distal bicep tendon tear which is either partial or full...either one will require surgery. It is imperative to get the ultrasound as soon as possible as the longer one waits to have surgery the more scarring will occur on the tendon which makes it difficult to reattach with surgery. The good news is it will take 12 weeks to recover after surgery and you should have all your strength back once you do. If you can move up the ultrasound appointment at all that would help.
P

[LondonMuscle]

from what i understand, they have to wait for the swelling to go down before they can do an ultrasound and assess the damage... also since its in 2 weeks sound like they have put you on the semi urgent list instead of the urgent so they likely dont think you had a full tear

did they put you in a sling or can you still bend ur arm?

[test_for_life]

from what i understand, they have to wait for the swelling to go down before they can do an ultrasound and assess the damage... also since its in 2 weeks sound like they have put you on the semi urgent list instead of the urgent so they likely dont think you had a full tear

did they put you in a sling or can you still bend ur arm?

I can still fully bend my arm no problem. They did not put me on a sling as the doc thinks its not as serious as I think. I have seen pics of torn muscles and mines looks nothing like that. Also the doc asked me to do movements for him to get an idea on the damage. He said that in severe cases a torn muscle would make it impossible to do certain movements or with lots of pain associated. I was able to complete every single one of those movements. So I really don't feel its as severe. But I did manage to get an MRI for tomorrow though after making a few phone calls. I really don't want to take a risk waiting this long. Better safe than sorry.

[LondonMuscle]

if you can still bend ur arm then its not a full tear, which is a good thing... depending on how bad it is will dictate whether or not you require surgery... let us know how the MRI goes... will probably take a few days to get the results back on that... MRIs are not fun either!

[guest]

TFL! good to see you still around bud. Miss the rollies;)

Sorry to hear about your arm.

[Praetorian]

from what i understand, they have to wait for the swelling to go down before they can do an ultrasound and assess the damage... also since its in 2 weeks sound like they have put you on the semi urgent list instead of the urgent so they likely dont think you had a full tear

did they put you in a sling or can you still bend ur arm?

There is no need to wait for anything to do the ultrasound...the sooner the better. I had my ultrasound 2 days after the injury...they would have preferred the next day actually. There is no urgent or semi urgent when it comes to parital or full tears...either way the surgery needs to be done ASAP before scarring over occurs. My first full tear was repaired within 5 days of the injury.
Even if the tear is partial it requires surgery to repair and the sooner the better....your orthopedic surgeon will confirm this.
P

[Praetorian]

if you can still bend ur arm then its not a full tear, which is a good thing... depending on how bad it is will dictate whether or not you require surgery... let us know how the MRI goes... will probably take a few days to get the results back on that... MRIs are not fun either!

Actually that is not true. A full avulsion will still allow you to do many everyday tasks and sometimes they wont even repair it depending on your age. My first tear was a full avulsion off the bone and I was still able to train...even do pulldowns with lighter weights. My second tear was a partial avulsion and it seemed worse then the first...it also wont be as perfect a repair as the first...generally a full avulsion is preferred because it will allow 100% recovery after surgery....a partial is alot tougher to repair and the prognosis is variable.
You can get in for an MRI or ultrasound if you are willing to go off norm hours....depending on if they run 24hrs.
P

[Praetorian]

I can still fully bend my arm no problem. They did not put me on a sling as the doc thinks its not as serious as I think. I have seen pics of torn muscles and mines looks nothing like that. Also the doc asked me to do movements for him to get an idea on the damage. He said that in severe cases a torn muscle would make it impossible to do certain movements or with lots of pain associated. I was able to complete every single one of those movements. So I really don't feel its as severe. But I did manage to get an MRI for tomorrow though after making a few phone calls. I really don't want to take a risk waiting this long. Better safe than sorry.

Thats great news....good luck to you.
P

[LondonMuscle]

There is no need to wait for anything to do the ultrasound...the sooner the better. I had my ultrasound 2 days after the injury...they would have preferred the next day actually. There is no urgent or semi urgent when it comes to parital or full tears...either way the surgery needs to be done ASAP before scarring over occurs. My first full tear was repaired within 5 days of the injury.
Even if the tear is partial it requires surgery to repair and the sooner the better....your orthopedic surgeon will confirm this.
P

Your experience and mine then have been completely different!

I had a partial pec tear and was told that i had to wait about a week for the swelling to go down before they could ultrasound, MRI I got in for quite quickly.

The next day after the day I got into the Hand and Upper Limb Clinic, was told it was not a full tear because I had flexation in the pec still and was told not to work out. This was near the end of my diet so I told my doc I had to keep training so he said he would move me to the semi ugent list which would get me in for an MRI in about 2 weeks. The ugent list he said was within 2 days. I got in earlier though because of a cancelled appointment.

I'm from TBay, so I know what the medical system is like there, but trust me, here in London you can be urgent, semi urgent or neither with partial tears!

[LondonMuscle]

Actually that is not true. A full avulsion will still allow you to do many everyday tasks and sometimes they wont even repair it depending on your age. My first tear was a full avulsion off the bone and I was still able to train...even do pulldowns with lighter weights. My second tear was a partial avulsion and it seemed worse then the first...it also wont be as perfect a repair as the first...generally a full avulsion is preferred because it will allow 100% recovery after surgery....a partial is alot tougher to repair and the prognosis is variable.
You can get in for an MRI or ultrasound if you are willing to go off norm hours....depending on if they run 24hrs.
P

so long as one of the heads of the biceps was still attached i would agree with you that you could still do everyday tasks... of course if both heads completely detached this would not be possible

[Praetorian]

Your experience and mine then have been completely different!

I had a partial pec tear and was told that i had to wait about a week for the swelling to go down before they could ultrasound, MRI I got in for quite quickly.

The next day after the day I got into the Hand and Upper Limb Clinic, was told it was not a full tear because I had flexation in the pec still and was told not to work out. This was near the end of my diet so I told my doc I had to keep training so he said he would move me to the semi ugent list which would get me in for an MRI in about 2 weeks. The ugent list he said was within 2 days. I got in earlier though because of a cancelled appointment.

I'm from TBay, so I know what the medical system is like there, but trust me, here in London you can be urgent, semi urgent or neither with partial tears!

Tbay lol me as well. Im living in the normal part of the world now GTA. The difference is you had a muscle tear...not a tendon rupture and the pectoral is much different from the bicep. As far as Im concerned any tear is urgent if you are a training athlete....for sedentary folk well they dont have the same goals or aspirations so there ex[ectations are quite different. I was able to get an ultrasound quickly because I have contacts in the medical field and they know how to work the system.
P

[Praetorian]

so long as one of the heads of the biceps was still attached i would agree with you that you could still do everyday tasks... of course if both heads completely detached this would not be possible

The biceps has two insertion at the proximal end and one at the distal end...normally the distal end is the one that tears and a complete tear will remove the bicep from the bone and it will curl up under the deltoid leaving a big gap where is should have been.
Now if we are talking muscle tear that is completely different and the prognosis will be different as well. Muscle tears may not be repaired by surgery depending on the way it was torn and how it sits...its a tough call...a tendon avulsion is preferred actually over a muscle tear because it is much more repairable and the prognosis is better long term.
P

[LondonMuscle]

Tbay lol me as well. Im living in the normal part of the world now GTA. The difference is you had a muscle tear...not a tendon rupture and the pectoral is much different from the bicep. As far as Im concerned any tear is urgent if you are a training athlete....for sedentary folk well they dont have the same goals or aspirations so there ex[ectations are quite different. I was able to get an ultrasound quickly because I have contacts in the medical field and they know how to work the system.
P

Oh, I thought you still lived in TBay, which is why I mentioned that. I lived there until I was 19 then moved to London for school.

But in my experience and in test for life's experience, doctors clearly seem to rank tears in terms of ugency and then plan your MRIs and ultrasounds accordingly. My tear ended up being a pec minor tear right at the musculotendonis junction, but they would have no way of knowing this before they "ranked" me as semi ugent, upgraded from umm whatever is below that :D

[Praetorian]

Oh, I thought you still lived in TBay, which is why I mentioned that. I lived there until I was 19 then moved to London for school.

But in my experience and in test for life's experience, doctors clearly seem to rank tears in terms of ugency and then plan your MRIs and ultrasounds accordingly. My tear ended up being a pec minor tear right at the musculotendonis junction, but they would have no way of knowing this before they "ranked" me as semi ugent, upgraded from umm whatever is below that :D

Moved to Toronto in 2000. Yes docs do tend to rank tears in terms of urgency...thats why i use Sports Medicine docs who see thing a bit differently as they are dealing with athletes and not sedentary folk...the expectations are completely different. When I went to emerg for the first full biceps avulsion the doc there said no need to do anything just let it be...yeah right...i dont think so...i asked for a referral to an orthopedic specialist and had surgery in 4 days...you have to be your own doc sometimes. ;o)
P

[LondonMuscle]

ya i went to emerg the night i tore it, the doc there actually thought it was a bicep tear at the origin because there was so much blood pooling in my arm he thought the bicep was just hanging there... i was supposed to wait a full week to even see a specialist but was lucky enough to get in the next day due to a cancelled appointment, so i skipped class to get there.... emergy docs definitely dont care like a sports doc would, nor do they seem to have the slightest clue about a lot of stuff!

the specialist then informed me it was a pec tear, not a bicep and said it wasnt full because i still had flexation in the pecs... anyway long story short, got into the MRI a day or two after that from another cancelled appointment, found out the diagnosis, declined surgery since i was told they would have to cut thru the major just to get to it and you would always be able to see the damage from surgery... took about 8 weeks off chest training and it healed on its own!

[test_for_life]

Just a small update. I went to get an MRI today and saw the doc. Will have the results by Monday. I really had to work my way to get the results back this early. I saw another specialist today who works private and has worked with muscle tears for over 30 years, so he knows his stuff. He personally thinks that its a partial tear and might not require surgery. But would have to wait for his to see the MRI for the final results.

He has worked with people who have had partial tears and they never got surgery and recovered at 100% within 4 months. And they were sent back after 4 month for another MRI and everything was back into it's place. However physiotherapy is required. He thinks too many people jump to surgery right which often times is not needed.

He has worked with bodybuilders, athletes and lots of speed skaters who are known for muscle tears. Yes sometimes, surgery is required, but not always. He saw my arm, felt it, made me do certain movements and right now I wait until Monday.

As for now, I am not allowed to train for 8 weeks. My upper body that is. But could still train legs and do cardio. He did advise me when I am training legs in the leg press machine and squats to have someone stack the plates for me because placing plates on machines could impact my bicep.

So I guess for now, I will do nothing, but train legs 3 times per week for a while and maybe do some cardio. MY legs has always been my weakness, so this could be my chance to bring them up. Will keep everyone posted as soon as I get the results back to the MRI.

[MuSuLPhReAk]

Hi TLF, good to see you posting again. Wish it could be under different circumstances though. Hope you have a fast and full recovery.

[test_for_life]

Hi TLF, good to see you posting again. Wish it could be under different circumstances though. Hope you have a fast and full recovery.

Thanks bro. I guess taking some time off is not too bad for the body and muscle memory is a wonderful thing. It could have been worst. The board is looking awesome by the way. Good job!!!

[test_for_life]

Hi Guys,

Here is a small update. My bicep is still not healed, but therapy is going well and training legs 3 times a week and 2 times a week doing some cardio. My legs have definitely improved training them 3 days a week compared to once a week and it helps me keep my sanity from not training.

I am able to do pressing movements with light weight like bench press and military press, but its recommend I don't do any weight at all for another 3 weeks according to my therapist because it could easily do more damage.

I am doing better mentally and taking private cooking lessons from a chef to kill some time and cooking is something I've always wanted to do.

My muscles are definitely softer to some extent and feeling a little bloated because I have been eating between 3200 to 3500 calories a day, but not moving as much. But will keep the calories high as it helps with my recovery and going back in the gym will be best for my joints. I should be able to make a full recovery in another 6 weeks time. Will keep everyone posted