Torn Bicep Tenton Recovery Time

Found out yesterday that I have a full tear of my left bicep tenton which occured two weeks ago today during the NASA Natural Nationals meet.

Surgery will be next week. My question for those who have had this surgery is what is the recovery time both in terms of when you get back to light lifting and how long it took you to get back to your pre surgery upper body numbers assuming you did get back to those numbers. I know what the sugeon is telling me but I would like to hear from those who have actually been through it. Thanks in advance for any replies.

Plan on spending at least 5-6 weeks in a cast or splint. then rehab for a couple of months. It will take a while to get back to 100 %. I was scared as hell to try DL again. I could feel it kind of stretching in my elbow. I went to double overhand grip instead of ofset. It is not a quick recovery. I tore mine out of the elbow. good luck.

[quote]matt74 wrote:
Plan on spending at least 5-6 weeks in a cast or splint. then rehab for a couple of months. It will take a while to get back to 100 %. I was scared as hell to try DL again. I could feel it kind of stretching in my elbow. I went to double overhand grip instead of ofset. It is not a quick recovery. I tore mine out of the elbow. good luck.[/quote]

Thanks Matt. Surgeon is saying 2 weeks in a split and then 4 weeks in a soft cast. Tore mine at the elbow as well.

Search for Lil Power’s log in the O35. She had a bicep tear, surgery, and has more than successfully returned to competitive powerlifting.

Had mine reattached last February and they never casted or braced. Just a sling. Which I only wore for a week. Had almost full range of motion back in 3-4 weeks and was back to stronger than prior to tear before 6 months on curls… A little scary to pull deads for awhile … Switching to double over helps with the confidence for pulling though.

[quote]Swolle wrote:
Had mine reattached last February and they never casted or braced. Just a sling. Which I only wore for a week. Had almost full range of motion back in 3-4 weeks and was back to stronger than prior to tear before 6 months on curls… A little scary to pull deads for awhile … Switching to double over helps with the confidence for pulling though. [/quote]

Thanks Swolle. That’s what I was hoping to hear. I’m a little less than three weeks removed from surgery right now and mobility is coming back pretty well. Do you remember at what stage you started back with upper body work and approximately what percentages you started back with? I really appreciate any help you can give me as I know I’m getting overly conservative recommendations from the PT and surgeon.