Hey. Wondering if anyone has had problems with [Distal Biceps Tendon] ? When doing pullups,curls etc ? I dont seem to have it torn, but I feel some pain sometimes when doing curls, or mostly when doing back workouts, that regquire pulling, pullups mostly. After massaging it it seems better, but anyone have any suggestions how to avoid this ?
Thanks!
The pain means its just pissed off, tearing it (at least a full rupture in my case) had no associated pain at all. Before I ruptured it, both forearms were killing me for months, hurt to pick up my kids. If youāve done some google research there isnt much out there suprisingly but I found that slow eccentrics/negatives really helped. Started with 5lb dumbell in one hand, lift it with the other hand into curl position, then slowly lower unassisted for 3 or 4 sets of high reps 12-20 as many times a day as possible. Do both pronated and suppinated grips. Increase weight 5 lbs. when it feels comfortable, little to no pain. Luckily I had a set of adjustable DBs at home or I can see how doing this multiple times would be an issue. It takes a while so be patient. Sucks but lay off any pulling that aggravates it, try changing grip. If overhand hurts try neutral or underhand, experiment but dont push it. Once mine were mostly better I went and blew it out doing heavy deadlifts, Im sure it was already weakened.
I dont buy into the RICE recommendations, youāll stop working out for weeks just to have the pain come right back when you start. Massaging as you mention is great as well to promote blood flow to the area helping with healing. Tendons lack the same bloodflow as muscles so they need extra help there.
Thanks for the info mate!
Massage with other side of a knife worked great for me, took out tension, had a great workout today!
Hope yours is better!
I think you have talked about something that affects most people especially newbies. I also experience the same after going through my reps. But I visited my doctor explained the problem to him and he prescribed some brand of medication which I use and I feel much better. I bet you should see a physician.
Yeah maybeā¦ better be safe
Iām a member of the āruptured biceps tendon s/p surgical repair clubā myself (Class of 2001). Like @roscop12, I had terrible āforearmā pain for years prior to the rupture. (The distal biceps inserts on the forearm deep to the brachioradialis, so many misinterpret the pain as originating from that muscle.) The moment I ruptured the tendon, I realized two things: One, I had been misinterpreting my forearm pain all those years, and Two, that my tendon issues stemmed from a dumb workout routine.
And thatās the part you need to correct right away if you wish to avoid having a lifetime of biceps issues, like me. (I still have pain, mainly on the unruptured side.) Simply put, youāre stressing your biceps tendons too much, either in terms of workload or frequency (or both). If you want, Iāll help you optimize your program to maximize the odds youāll never have to āgraduate.ā If interested, post your routine.
Iāll jump in here for some advice. My distal biceps on the left has been painful for about 3 weeks. I can do all back stuff with almost no issues, however any curling movements cause sharp pain. My routine is basically full body lifting 3x/week. So I do some sort of bicep curls 3x/week. I will either do 3-4 sets of one exercise. Iāll rotate between incline dumbbell curls, incline dumbbell hammer curls, cable curls both facing towards and away from the cables. I even throw in a machine curl every now and then. I donāt go super heavy. I will do rest pause or mechanical drops or do isometric holds. I havenāt done any curling since aggravating the tendon. Itās very frustrating! Any thoughts would be appreciated.
How are your shoulders and posture? If you have tight pecs/front shoulders and youāre kinda slumped forward with the arms internally rotated (like knuckles forward) it can put pressure on your biceps. This chronic pressure makes them shorten/tighten and get painful.
No postural issues. I tweaked the left distal biceps doing incline dumbbell curls. I just ignored the problem and kept going. The pain is actually some better with rest. Iām hoping to be able to curl again soon.
Maybe you just beat it up with the stretched, elbow behind the body, incline curl position.
In the future, maybe try some Spider Curls to work on the ātop endā of your biceps?
I think you hit it right on the head. I really like the incline dumbbell curls and probably overdid them. Iām hoping to be able to get back to some sort of curling soon. Thanks.
Incline bicep curls are what first aggravated my tendon, leading up to the eventual rupture.
Iāve just ruptured my distal biceps tendon (5 days ago), or at least that is the sports medicine doctorās opinion after examination as we are still waiting for an ultrasound to be done on it to confirm this diagnosis. That will be done on this Wednesday (Feb. 27) and then I have an appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon the next morning. Iāve read a fair bit online about recovery times and different outcomes for surgical vs. non-surgical management of it. I am a dentist and obviously need 2 functioning arms to work. Luckily, it is my non-dominant (left) arm which, for the most part, I only need to hold the mirror at work. Iāve been able to work quite normally so far since the injury.
My concerns are twofold:
1.) What amount of work would I need to miss after surgery and what does the recovery schedule look like?
2.) What would the strength loss / impairment be in my injured arm compared to the non-injured one especially in relation to weight training for both the surgical and non-surgical treatment options?
Anyone who has any experience with either the surgical vs. the non-surgical treatments for this I would greatly appreciate their input (especially you @EyeDentist as I would really value a medical practitionerās opinion who himself has undergone this procedure).
I have had no meaningful success rehabbing my left distal biceps tendon since December of 2017.
Laser therapy has not done much, or anything, and most recently I was getting a good deal on a student massage therapy place. I am now in the middle of a 30 day supply of Meloxicam 15mg daily and slightly tweaked the injury today using a 7.5 lb dumbbell trying to do slow curls.
I am as frustrated as fuck. I might ask, as the massage place only allows appointments once per week, is there any web resource to explain how to perform one handed massage on oneself?
Oh, and I noticed on another similar thread someone is using glucosamine. What does this do, and how might I dose myself with it? I am also after my Meloxicam is over go back to D-Aspartic Acid to increase T, I hope this assists with healing, I just find it doesnāt go well with the Meloxicam.
Also, what benefit would getting some form of myfascial roller to a tendon be? If so, what should I look for in a product? What sort of regimen to follow with it?
What type of repair did you have for your distal biceps repair? I had the suture anchor repair, 12.5 weeks out from surgery now, and it looks like the muscle belly is a little higher up in my arm than the other side. Did you notice anything like that with yours?
I ruptured my dominate, distal bicep tendon, had repair surgery, have full range of motion and is actually stronger than none injured arm. Repaired bicep appears shorter than the other, not sure why. I had my repair done within 10 days of my injury, which I have heard is of vital importance to have it repaired quickly! For recovery I started my own rehab extremely early by using LIGHT bands, alternating positioning the bands in such a manner that forced pronation/supination of the hand/forearm and worked against the bands. And of coarse did curls. It may have been a waist but I also took A LOT of NO2!
Mine seemed shorter for a while (how far the muscle came down towards my elbow joint) but it was mainly due to the atrophy from being in a hard splint for 2 weeks. It eventually lengthened again but I still notice it is about 1/2 shorter when I flex, not noticeable to others but I can tell. In the beginning once I was back to full lifting I did focus more work on that side so it could catch back up size wise but then started training bilaterally again figuring it would all even out enough on its own.
Were you ever able to figure the distal biceps out?