T Nation

Advice for Torn Pec Surgery?

#1

Hello,

I just signed up because i wanted some adviced or if someone could share his experience with me.
I torn my pectoral doing bench press 2 months ago, i finally found a surgeon who know about it. In 5 days, i will get the surgery done, they will take a hamstring autograft and will do the recontruction of my pectoral tendon. The doctor said i shouldnt lose any strength but my tendon will be about 30% more fragile than the other side, and i could reinjure it.

I dont know if someone in the forum had a reconstruction of his pectoral tendon and what was the outcome? Strength/reinjured? Also i am worried about my hamstring, the doctor said i wont lose strength in my leg, but i read differents stories and some athletes were left with weakness in the hamstring.

Also any idea of what supplements i should take post surgery? I know it wont be magical but if it could help a little bit.

I do compete in jiu jitsu and i do powerlifting strength conditioning. My best BP was 180kg. Could i ever lift again this weight? Worrying now with my hamstring for the deadlift and squat…

#2

Little update:
Ok i had a surgery, but when i woke up, i had the surprise to see 2 cuts in my left chest… Surgeon told me that there was a complete rupture of the deltoid :s and the pectoral was partially torn at the clavicular insertion and not the humeral insertion (weird)… he never saw that… Well he reattached both muscle at the calvicle using suture (he didnt need an auto graft). I got surgery on the 1st of december, and now im looking for some PT i could do at home, because i went to the PT here in Brazil and it sucks, they clearly dont know what they are doing… I tried to find some infos on google, but i didnt find any article about this injury… if someone has some infos to share about PT for this kind of injury it would be great :slight_smile:
I had a big “hole” in my left chest before the surgery and now i have a small hole but nothing compared as before, surgeon told me it was normal because of atrophy, i just hope it will be more symetrical after PT.

#3

Not the exact injury you have, my pec-major tendon popped off the bone. (I’m week 4 right now). Your injury in many ways sounds worse so you may have a worse/longer recovery.

Tendon injuries take FOREVER to heal and are prone to re-injury. I’d strongly advise not pushing it. My surgeon is a shoulder specialist who primarily treats athletes and was very detailed in his experience regarding recovery and how many repeat customers he’s had over the years because people try to get back in the saddle way too quickly.

PT is really really light for the first 6-8 weeks.

First 2 weeks is basically just moving your wrist around and raising your arm (like a bicep curl) with your uninjured arm doing all the work. This is just to get the blood flowing, to prevent clots and to keep nerve pain at a minimum.

Weeks 3-6 are ROM exercises, hold your arm on a counter or dresser straight and then drop your body until you feel pressure, NOT pain. Hold it there for 10-15 seconds and then go back up. Repeat 10-15x around 6 times daily.

The second is scapular contractions. 20x 6 times a day. Again, until you feel a stretch but no pain and then back.

Third is laying down and using your good arm, lift the injured arm up above you as far as you can, hold and then go through the motion again. 15x 6 times a day.

For me, this has meant a TON of swelling and inflammation so I’m taking big assed fish oil pills at every meal and tumeric in addition to icing. Absolutely no ibuprofen since it’s damaging to tendons and inhibits repair.

I have a follow up PT apt tomorrow and I have a feeling they’ll be disappointed with my ROM but I’ve always had poor ROM and have been dealing with a lot of nerve pain.

#4

Thank you evilwhitey for your reply. Yes it seems i damaged more muscles than a simple pec tear… Well what is done is done, now i have to deal with it and will try to come back as before… Since i couldnt find anything about deltoid complete tear surgery, i found this PT program for pectoral tear rehab: http://www.bostonsportsmedicine.com/pdf/protocols/pectoralis_major_muscle_repair_protocol.pdf
I started to do the ROM exercises and also the isometrics.
I am now at 3 months post surgery, so i started PT very late.
For me, there is not that much swelling and inflamation (except my pec has a small “ball” near the sternum and near the clavicle when i flex my pec, could be inflamation or permanent deformity??), but my pec/shoulder area feels very tight…
Do you still have any deformity after surgery? any symetrical issue?

#5

Well, I’m fat AF so if I do have a deformity it’s probably covered right now. I’ll let you know once I’m further out from surgery and more active.

I’m a month out of surgery now and my shoulder is VERY tight. I have shitty ROM still but am working on it.

#6

LOL well maybe i should consider beeing fat to solve my problem. i will post if any progress, good luck with your rehab :slight_smile: