Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below
napsgear
genezapharmateuticals
domestic-supply
puritysourcelabs
UGL OZ
UGFREAK
napsgeargenezapharmateuticals domestic-supplypuritysourcelabsUGL OZUGFREAK

Crap I tore my tricep!!

F117A Active Stealth

F117A Active Stealth

High End Bro
Platinum
Ok so I was doing tricep extensions with a 100lb dumbell and after the 5th rep I heard a slight rip in my left tricep and felt a little pain.

Now about 1hr later I can move my arm up and down but with some pain, and the area right above my elbow has gotten swollen. There is only a minor pain though unless I do movements that require the tricep.

How bad did I hurt myself? I'm going to see a doc tomorrowm, I seriously hope I'm ok.
 
Thanks guys, just came back from the doc. They put me on anti-inflammatory medication and scheduled an ultrasound. Thank God I don't think it was too severe, but I'm still thinking of getting a sport physiologist to take a look at it if it doesn't get better in a couple of days.
 
Don't train arms until you know exactly what you did, a full tear would suck much worse.
 
Lots of ice bro. 20 mins on, 20 mins off for a total of 3x. I have had problems with both tris and tendon tears. Good luck.
 
Bro, I dnt think you tore it...might've sprained it pretty bad....

tearing it will be so painful beyond belief...it will literally change color.
 
Well I heard some tearing about 2" up from my elbow, and it didn't hurt bad until the next day. I've been getting 10hr sleep everyday and not moving my arm at all.

Today is the first day that I can type with 2 hands lol.

Anyway I am going to call a sports physiologist and get their opinion. The regular doc didn't have a clue what to recommend other than an ultrasound.
 
You gotta get an MRI and ultrasound probably. Is it still swollen and black and blue? If not you probably just had a slight tear that will require rest.
 
the_alcatraz said:
Bro, I dnt think you tore it...might've sprained it pretty bad....

tearing it will be so painful beyond belief...it will literally change color.
Click to expand...

true. that shit hurt like shirt. i tore mine a year ago and it was huge fucking purple ball for a week
 
Hey guys. The first day it was swollen real bad. Didn't change color though. The second day the swelling had gone down a lot but still hurt if I moved the tricep and the elbow. And everyday since then it started to get better.

Today I only have minor pain and stiffness, I'm starting to massage and stretch the muscle a little bit. I guess the tendon is ok.

I'm scheduled for an ultrasound about 2 weeks from now, but I plan to look for another opinion from someone.

My biggest worry now is that scar tissue has replaced the damaged muscle in the tricep.

Well, either way this is basically the end of me working to gain muscle in the gym. I'm already tore my lumbar region twice including the muscles and the L1/S1 Disc, but thank God that I didn't tear it enough to herniate it.

Now I'm just gonna concentrate on getting my flexibility back and get down from the 20% BF I am now to 10% and call it a day.
 
Man, in the last 2 months I have repaired 2 tricepts and 3 distal biceps. Tis the season for tears I suppose. Anyway bro, if you see a specialist of ANY kind, make it an orthopedic surgeon. It sounds to me like you just have a partial tear in the muscle belly rather than the tendon. The good news is that usually this does not require surgery to fix. Just some good ole rest and relaxation. Typically if it were the tendon you tore you would feel a noticeable defect behind your elbow, would have great difficulty extending your arm and horrible bruising. If this were the case you would have to have it surgically reattached. If you were going to rupture something this was the best one to tear. Biceps and pecs, depending on the size of the person are a real bitch to repair.This has been a unique 2 months though with all these people that have ruptured bis and tris. Just a quick trivia question, but do you know the most common exercise that is being performed when more than half of the people rupture their biceps? Answer: Deadlifts. Be very careful on those. Well get to an orthopod and get a MRI. Shoot me a PM if I can answer any other questions for ya bro.
 
Latamier said:
Just a quick trivia question, but do you know the most common exercise that is being performed when more than half of the people rupture their biceps? Answer: Deadlifts. Be very careful on those.
Click to expand...

I'm convinced this is due to using a mixed (pronated/supinated) grip on heavy deads. When I get to my heavy deads, I make sure to use a double pronated grip to avoid the strain on (and possible tear of) the bicep. You can't lift quite as much with this grip...but you can lift a whole lot more than you can with a torn bicep!!! :D
 
Update. The muscle itself is starting to heal, but my elbow is still very tender and painful to touch or move. Yesterday I noticed a discoloration in the elbow as well, so I got scared crapless and decided to go to the hospital. Doc took X-rays and says that it looks fine, and that there may be some minor tearing of the tendon, but advised for me to get a strap for the elbow and keep pressure on it as minor tears should usually heal on their own. He also advised me to wait for the ultrasound that's next week and see what the results are.

The strap is actually helping a lot, I'm surprised, I should have bought one the same day I caused the injury.

I'm trying so hard not to get depressed here and look on the bright side of things :(
 
ceo said:
I'm convinced this is due to using a mixed (pronated/supinated) grip on heavy deads. When I get to my heavy deads, I make sure to use a double pronated grip to avoid the strain on (and possible tear of) the bicep. You can't lift quite as much with this grip...but you can lift a whole lot more than you can with a torn bicep!!! :D
Click to expand...

That's true! Mixed grip is dangerous. The only reason powerlifters do it is because they know they'll be able to lift more weight and make a better score. Coach Charles Poliquin explains it better on his website.
 
F117A Active Stealth said:
Update. The muscle itself is starting to heal, but my elbow is still very tender and painful to touch or move. Yesterday I noticed a discoloration in the elbow as well, so I got scared crapless and decided to go to the hospital. Doc took X-rays and says that it looks fine, and that there may be some minor tearing of the tendon, but advised for me to get a strap for the elbow and keep pressure on it as minor tears should usually heal on their own. He also advised me to wait for the ultrasound that's next week and see what the results are.

The strap is actually helping a lot, I'm surprised, I should have bought one the same day I caused the injury.

I'm trying so hard not to get depressed here and look on the bright side of things :(
Click to expand...

I think you gonna do fine! After such a short time it's starting to get better, you be able to be back to normal in no time. Keep a positive atitude, being worried about it all the time is not gonna help you. Nevertheless when you are able to get back to the gym keep those mistakes in mind if you wanna keep injuries away. Good luck
 
F117A Active Stealth said:
Ok so I was doing tricep extensions with a 100lb dumbell and after the 5th rep I heard a slight rip in my left tricep and felt a little pain.

Now about 1hr later I can move my arm up and down but with some pain, and the area right above my elbow has gotten swollen. There is only a minor pain though unless I do movements that require the tricep.

How bad did I hurt myself? I'm going to see a doc tomorrowm, I seriously hope I'm ok.
Click to expand...

ouch, that sound really painful!
i hope you get well soon and heal quick.:)
 
I think you gonna do fine! After such a short time it's starting to get better, you be able to be back to normal in no time. Keep a positive atitude, being worried about it all the time is not gonna help you. Nevertheless when you are able to get back to the gym keep those mistakes in mind if you wanna keep injuries away. Good luck
Click to expand...

Guys thanks for the kind words all of you. It's such a blow to be able to lift pretty hardcore and be reduced to nothing in a split second because of a stupid mistake. I've done this twice to my back and thank God recovered fully both times (after months). I hope the same applies to this.

I'm considering ending my weightlifting for good though. My family needs me in one piece and not as a cripple, so I don't know.

The most frustrating thing is that EVERY Doctor I have talked to doesn't care, and forget trying to get an MRI or Ultrasound soon, everything is booked and I got lucky for an Aug 29th spot. I'll let you guys know what the ultrasound shows, I'm hoping there very little tearing, if any.
 
F117A Active Stealth said:
Guys thanks for the kind words all of you. It's such a blow to be able to lift pretty hardcore and be reduced to nothing in a split second because of a stupid mistake. I've done this twice to my back and thank God recovered fully both times (after months). I hope the same applies to this.

I'm considering ending my weightlifting for good though. My family needs me in one piece and not as a cripple, so I don't know.

The most frustrating thing is that EVERY Doctor I have talked to doesn't care, and forget trying to get an MRI or Ultrasound soon, everything is booked and I got lucky for an Aug 29th spot. I'll let you guys know what the ultrasound shows, I'm hoping there very little tearing, if any.
Click to expand...

How old are you bro?
 
^^ I'm 29 right now bro.

Currently just sitting here putting cold patches on my elbow, they help with the pain. I have an appointment with a doctor who specializes in sports injuries for the 27th, and I have my ultrasound on the 29th.

Until then all I can do is twiddle my thumbs and deal with the pain. I know there's minor tearing of the tendon, because I can see on the left hand side of the elbow there's a scar now that wasn't there, as if something pulled the skin from the inside. I'm told that any tears that are less than 50% should reattach, but until that damn ultrasound there's pretty much nothing I can do.
 
F117A Active Stealth said:
^^ I'm 29 right now bro.

Currently just sitting here putting cold patches on my elbow, they help with the pain. I have an appointment with a doctor who specializes in sports injuries for the 27th, and I have my ultrasound on the 29th.

Until then all I can do is twiddle my thumbs and deal with the pain. I know there's minor tearing of the tendon, because I can see on the left hand side of the elbow there's a scar now that wasn't there, as if something pulled the skin from the inside. I'm told that any tears that are less than 50% should reattach, but until that damn ultrasound there's pretty much nothing I can do.
Click to expand...

Be patient! three months ago I had a minor tear on my inner forearm close to the elbow due to a armwrestling joke, it was taking some time to heal. Until I found out that the way I slept wasn't helping and the cold air conditioning during sleep was slowing down the healing process. Keep the joint stable and by now i don't think the ice is a good idea. I like to use TIGER BALM, have you tried yet?
 
^^^ Hey man, well funny you ask because today I went to buy some A535 and I'm starting to rub it into the muscle and massage the muscle and the joint. Thank God the pain is going away, now I'm worried about the stiffness. I can't move my arm more than half way up without it feeling stiff as a rock. I think it's because of the scar tissue in the muscle has now made it tight.

So I'm just going to massage my tricep every day for a while in hopes I can start breaking down some of it.

Today is the first day I feel that I may actually have hope to get back in there and pound some weights again.

You ripped your tendon in an arm wrestling contest? Wow that must have sucked.
 
ceo said:
I'm convinced this is due to using a mixed (pronated/supinated) grip on heavy deads. When I get to my heavy deads, I make sure to use a double pronated grip to avoid the strain on (and possible tear of) the bicep. You can't lift quite as much with this grip...but you can lift a whole lot more than you can with a torn bicep!!! :D
Click to expand...

Is it possible a lot of bodybuilders have a weakness in the bicep tendon in the full stretch position because they don't go to full extension on bicep exercises?
 
F117A Active Stealth said:
^^^ Hey man, well funny you ask because today I went to buy some A535 and I'm starting to rub it into the muscle and massage the muscle and the joint. Thank God the pain is going away, now I'm worried about the stiffness. I can't move my arm more than half way up without it feeling stiff as a rock. I think it's because of the scar tissue in the muscle has now made it tight.

So I'm just going to massage my tricep every day for a while in hopes I can start breaking down some of it.

Today is the first day I feel that I may actually have hope to get back in there and pound some weights again.

You ripped your tendon in an arm wrestling contest? Wow that must have sucked.
Click to expand...

I was playing with a friend stronger than me, I actually one the first round, but i was out of gym for a while and he won the second because I had no endurance and that's when the tear came,. But I am 100% now.

Glad to know you are doing good! Every now and then when you massage try to stretch lightly it helps to reduce stiffness.
 
Update.

I had my two appointments. One with the Ultrasound and one with the Sports Injury Clinic. The Ultrasound showed a tendon tear, but inconclusive, apparently they didn't image enough of it. The Doctor says that she feels it's not something that will require surgery based on her testing (She had me do several tests with my arms). However she is going to request an MRI be done on my left arm just to be sure and not leave things to chances.

It may come back as me needing to get surgery anyway, but at least these guys are actually serious about helping me. Either way looks like I'm off the gym for at least 6 months if not more. Man I wish I had never grabbed that stupid dumbell :(
 
I'm sorry to hear of your injury :worried: I don't know how many others have gone through this but I tore BOTH distal tendons and biceps. Worse mistake I ever made was to stop training. Hind sight is 20/20 vision, so take from this old guy. Do cardio, work legs or other weak body parts, but stay active. Don't let this set you back.

I wasn't much older than you when my injuries happened. My surgeon blamed alot of my injury due to using gear...my muscles were much stronger than my tendons, and pop. Biggest mistake I ever made was to stop training and then I became FAT.

I'm 45 now and just started training again this year. You will recover. Your muscles have "memory"..you will get your strength and size back, but don't give up bro...I let over 10 years pass, don't make my mistakes, you'll regret it later. Any questions don't hesitate and PM me

Many blessing

Here some pics after surgery and the scar years later, before I started working out again...just to show you, I'm not BS you...I know what your going through... :(

kensrtarm.jpg

kenslftsarm.jpg
 
F117A Active Stealth said:
Update.

I had my two appointments. One with the Ultrasound and one with the Sports Injury Clinic. The Ultrasound showed a tendon tear, but inconclusive, apparently they didn't image enough of it. The Doctor says that she feels it's not something that will require surgery based on her testing (She had me do several tests with my arms). However she is going to request an MRI be done on my left arm just to be sure and not leave things to chances.

It may come back as me needing to get surgery anyway, but at least these guys are actually serious about helping me. Either way looks like I'm off the gym for at least 6 months if not more. Man I wish I had never grabbed that stupid dumbell :(
Click to expand...

Best luck to you bro.

Keep an update! Black Boxster seems to be ok and he is right keep your head up, don't let yourself down. Muscles have memory when you get back to gym you will regain size, strength and you can even surpass those.
 
Thanks for the kind words guys.

Update. Had a second appointment today. Doc thinks that the tendon ripped off the muscle. He says that they can't do much about that and that if this is the case, all that can be done is wait for it to heal on it's own. Again he stressed that the MRI will be the final word on what to do once he gets it. MRI is probably going to take another month to get if I'm lucky, but I'm hoping for some luck and someone might cancel early, and I can get that spot.

Funny because the doctor was giving me the third degree about gear, and he didn't believe that I wasn`t on the sauce (which I haven`t been on in more than 2 years now lol). I told him I`ve never used and I don`t think he believed me. He told me my injury is very rare and usually guys on steroids get them.

Anyway, for the meantime he recommended physiotherapy, so tomorrow I have my first appointment with the physio guy.

I`ve stopped working out completely, but I`ve been watching my diet and doing a lot of walking to get some cardio. I haven`t gained any weight and don`t intend to.

I guess my biggest fear is that I will never regain the power in my left tricep that I had before this horrible incident, but I haven`t given up, it`s too soon to know anything for sure.

Will keep you guys updated, and thanks for the encouragement, it really is appreciated :)
 
F117A Active Stealth said:
Thanks for the kind words guys.

Funny because the doctor was giving me the third degree about gear, and he didn't believe that I wasn`t on the sauce (which I haven`t been on in more than 2 years now lol). I told him I`ve never used and I don`t think he believed me. He told me my injury is very rare and usually guys on steroids get them.
Click to expand...

Bro that's the same treatment I got....I hadn't been on gear for awhile when I tore my bicep and distal tendon. Problem is even when you are off cycle...even if has been awhile, your muscles grow very strong, very quickly..sometimes too quickly for the tendons to catch up, and .....POP!

For someone who has never experienced it...they can't imagine, worse pain I ever had..I still cringe...it gives me the willies! Now when I work biceps I use lower weight, really concentrate on form, do slow negatives, and work for a good pump. I like doing movements like "21's"...7 half reps from ground to half way, 7 reps from half to top, and seven full reps....by the time I'm done my biceps are pumped beyond belief.

You may have to adjust your training methods, but you will grow and get stronger again. So why so long on the MRI??? Are you up in Canada?? I had my MRI within days, surgery within a week. The drill through the bone and reattach the tendon, then reattach the muscle to the tendon....the pain is worse after the surgery than you feel right now...BUT it is worth it bro.

GOOD LUCK AND MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU!!!
(just remember, pain killers are your friends right now...don't let the pain get ahead of the game...Ice packs help ALOT)
 
answered my own question..seen the flag...that's why I'm against government health care..SLOW....I can't tell you how many Canadians come down here to Florida for surgery...lots of knee's hips, eye...you guys love your Florida Doctors..and you don't have to wait a month for a MRI ( that is friggin insane!!!!)

I'll stop before I start going off on politics and get myself banned...LOL:p
 
quote]So why so long on the MRI??? Are you up in Canada?? I had my MRI within days, surgery within a week.[/quote]

Wow, that is insanely quick time. Just 6 months ago I bulged one of my spinal discs. It wasn't too serious, but I asked the doc to send me for an MRI just to be sure. He told me he'd request it, but that I shouldn't be surprised if it took up to 6 months to actually get it. What ended up happening is that someone cancelled 2 days after I asked for it and within 3 days I had the results. The doctor's secretary was shocked beyond belief. It looks like I'm not going to get that kind of luck this time. They're telling me typical wait is around 1-2 months.

answered my own question..seen the flag...that's why I'm against government health care..SLOW....I can't tell you how many Canadians come down here to Florida for surgery...lots of knee's hips, eye...you guys love your Florida Doctors..and you don't have to wait a month for a MRI ( that is friggin insane!!!!)

I'll stop before I start going off on politics and get myself banned...LOL
Click to expand...

Well thanks to God I have NEVER had to deal with our healthcare system for anything serious other than my back and now my arm. Basically anything that's not immediately life threatening they put on the backburner. Their mentality is "who cares if you end up a cripple, the important thing is that you live". Yeah, what a crock of shit. The "Triage nurse" that took my case at the hospital looked like she was bored out of her skull. The doc at the hospital looked like I was keeping him there, apparently I was the last guy he was looking at before his quitting time. The "tech" at the Ultrasound was this grumpy old guy who sounded like he was pissed that I was disturbing his precious time.

The Athlete's clinic I've started to attend basically went like this: I showed up on the 18th to ask for an appointment. I got one a week later with a general doc. I got a second appointment with an orthopedic surgeon a week later, both covered by our government health care program. The physiotherapy sessions apparently I can have any day of the week as many times as I want because it comes out of my pocket (not covered by the government, thankfully covered by my company's insurance program, not everyone is so lucky)

That's not the only bullshit we have to put up with here. They want to take our legal guns away. They've already started to tax us to death (We now have to pay to have our garbage hauled, we have to pay premiums for our power in "peak" hours. We have to pay a new tax that just got approved a month ago when we register a car.)

I seriously wish I could go live in one of those lax States that's not run by fucking communists, like Montana or Georgia lol. Even some of the Western Provinces like British Columbia are not so bad compared to Ontario now.

But I'm ranting :p:
 
Oh crap, well I'm screwed.

MRI came back. I have an 80% tear in the tricep tendon. Looks like it tore in the middle and is basically hanging by a thread in both edges. I now have to see the orthopedic surgeon to see what he recommends. Doc was telling me that because it's been a couple of months now that if surgery is done it won't be as effective as if it had been done right away.

So now I have to wait about 1 month to see the Orthopedic guy and if I opt for surgery, get put on a waiting list for months, maybe years.

So officially my time at the gym is done. I'm still trying to walk at least an hour a day, but it doesn't look like I'll ever step into a gym again. All because of one stupid mistake :(
 
Hey bro the best of luck to you, I hope in the end you can still go to the gym and do your thing!
 
Bro I'm sorry to hear that :( I've been there...it totally sucks....I just can't friggin believe how long everything is taking for you!! Don't let yourself get discouraged....after you have surgery you will recover!! Trust me...you've seen the photos of my arms...I did both arms!!.....just don't let this bring you down

Worse mistake I ever made was to stop training....now I'm almost 45 trying to play catch up....get the surgery, do your physical therapy then take it slow in the gym. Like I said earlier...take this as a time to train legs, do more cardio and lose some BF and get shredded.....you WILL recover.

May not be politically correct, but I'm keeping you in my prayers!
Please keep us updated!
 
Saw the orthopedic surgeon today. This is basically how the conversation went:

Doc: Ok, you show a 70-80% tear in your tendon, it is basically ripped off the bone. I'm not sure surgery would help you at all.

Me: Well, wouldn't surgery at least give me more functional strength?

Doc: You might get 50% stregth back in a best case scenario, maybe...

Me: Doc, right now 50% sounds better than 20%, I'd like to get it done.

Doc: Ok, I am going to try and schedule you in for surgery, it's going to be an exploratory surgery, meaning that we will see if anything can be done for you. Also you should know that there's a chance that if the nerve gets damaged going to your forearms, you may lose functionality in your fingers, particularly the two fingers at the end of you hand.

Me: Well doc I don't have a choice, I will not live with 20% tricep stregth.


So that's where I stand now. Wish me luck guys, hopefully everything goes well.
 
F117A Active Stealth said:
Saw the orthopedic surgeon today. This is basically how the conversation went:

Doc: Ok, you show a 70-80% tear in your tendon, it is basically ripped off the bone. I'm not sure surgery would help you at all.

Me: Well, wouldn't surgery at least give me more functional strength?

Doc: You might get 50% stregth back in a best case scenario, maybe...

Me: Doc, right now 50% sounds better than 20%, I'd like to get it done.

Doc: Ok, I am going to try and schedule you in for surgery, it's going to be an exploratory surgery, meaning that we will see if anything can be done for you. Also you should know that there's a chance that if the nerve gets damaged going to your forearms, you may lose functionality in your fingers, particularly the two fingers at the end of you hand.

Me: Well doc I don't have a choice, I will not live with 20% tricep stregth.


So that's where I stand now. Wish me luck guys, hopefully everything goes well.
Click to expand...

Good luck bro!!! I hope you win this battle!
 
Interesting you ask bo-den.

I'll give you the run down.

I got the surgery dec 2008.

It was "successful" as far as a surgery 4 months after the injury could be.

It took 6 months of constant physio to get full range of motion back.

I had, if lucky, 10% strenght. I couldn't even do a 10lb dumbbell without serious pain.

After a year, I was sick of waiting, and started researching. Prolotherapy seemed to be a good option. It took 16 shots of prolo to get my tendons from 10% to around 70% strength right now. I've basically plateauded there.

I have more pain in my elbow than I do in my other non torn elbow. This is apparently the way I will be for life. It doesn't get in the way of normal day to day activity. I can even ride my motorcycle.

For lifting I have to warm up really good to be able to reach the max 70% strength, and has to be controlled stuff. Dips out of the question. Dumbbell tricep extensions out. Basically the only thing I can do safely is cable pull downs. Too high and risk retearing.

It sucks but I thank God I have 70% and not 10%.
 
Yeah i fell into the "bigger is better mentality. That's how i messed up my back and my arm.

Thankfully im recovering enought to at least work on getting fit even if im not strong ax an ox anymore.
 
been there done that as well bro. but my injury was from running.

i totally over did it and paid the price.. i may never be able to run again long distances or sprints. BUT it turned out okay cause i got back into BBing.. so you could end up the same way and falling into something else .. hell maybe you should get into running yourself .. road races are a blast
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

SouthernCalifornianBody
Shoulder Delt injury (left SHLder), kinda close to outer pec: what spot is this pls? Should I Refrain from even 90 pushups all at once, each day?
Replies
22
Views
4K
Topps_Baseball88
Topps_Baseball88
H
Need advice. Heart transplant, now struggling with TRT?No energy
Replies
25
Views
5K
25homes
25homes
jasonhill800
Napsgear, Grow Massive Triceps with These Techniques
Replies
16
Views
4K
ballin2504
ballin2504
J
PLEASE HELP: My TRT Story
Replies
29
Views
6K
russianstarr
russianstarr
Richardbrown
Napsgear: Build a V-Taper and Save Your Joints
Replies
14
Views
4K
Tiger Salman Khan
Tiger Salman Khan
Top Bottom