Partially torn triceps tendon

[Roofer1]

Well... with all the foolish things I do what got me was falling in my garage. Have a partially torn triceps lateral head tendon. Met the surgeon a couple days ago. He's a friend of mine so I trust what he says but wanted to throw out the intel to see it anyone else has dealt with this, and what their opinion was. Scheduled surgery for Feb. 6th but am supposed to talk to the surgeon a week prior regarding how it feels. He said if it's healing then we'd just cancel the surgery. He told me that is truly on the borderline whether surgery was necessary or not. Has anyone had the surgery? Results? Has anyone been in a similar situation and not had the surgery? Results? Thanks

 

[7mm-08]

Sorry that I know virtually nothing about your injury, but anytime somebody wants to get out a scalpel, I pause my consent for a LONG, LONG time. If you're saying that the tear can/will heal itself, what are the downsides of waiting and evaluating nature's progress without the risks of general anesthesia, an unpredictable outcome, etc.? Remember, carpenters drive nails.

 

[riversidejeep]

A few months ago I tore the tenons in my bicep that control the twisting motion ( turning a screwdriver ), Doc says if you don't mind a lump in your arm, don't sweat it. It'll heal up and I'll get 98% strength back after a fashion.

 

[Roofer1]

I'm really not fired up for surgery in any form so I like/agree with what both of you have said.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Different injury. May be applicable experience.

I tore my right lower bicep tendon completely off the mooring point. My bicep looked like a baseball under my skin. The concern was getting it reattached before the muscle/tendon group shrank. If it had shrunk too much it would make reattacment difficult to impossible. In the month before my surgery I was able to still play the guitar. Lots of up and down movement of the right fore arm despite not having a useful bicep on that arm. They told me I would lose about 20% IIRC of the lifting strength in my right arm without the surgery. Surgery involved a stainless pin and sewing the tendon to the bone?

Recovery was six weeks in a cast and a couple years of using the arm but no throwing anything. Almost completely forgot about it nowadays 12 years later.

I would ask your guy about the prognosis if it fails to heal naturally.

 

[bigv]

My bicep tendon tore off my shoulder. I have a bump in arm now and elected not to fix it. Dr said it will heal completely with normal strength in 8-10 months. Will still have bump though. Same thing as Brett Favre and Peyton Manning he said. Not triceps though but I suspect similar???

 

[Huntindog45]

i blew out my shoulder cleaning my pool this year. just slipped...if I had gone to the left I would have landed in my pool... no big deal but no, I fell to the right and braced myself with my elbow and blew out everything, rotator cuff, labrum, messed up bicep. Im 8 weeks out from surgery now and just barely getting to the point my arm has some range of motion again. Hilarious thing is three weeks before i was glassing a hillside and slipped, fell 30 feet down a steep incline, took a header or two and walked away without a scratch.... but no.. cleaning my pool and falling 3 feet and boom

 

[Bubblehide]

Once you have a complete tear, the muscle is only connected on one side, and no longer functions. As such it begins to atrophy and it shrinks. You have a limited amount of time to fix it, surgically to regain function and strength. If you wait too long, the only option you have is connecting what is referred to as a baloon to the torn tendon and bone. This might increase function/movement, but it does not address strength. If you feel you can live with it the it is, strength and function/movement will not improve, then go with doing nothing. If you want improvement, do not delay surgery.

 

[Willie IV]

My bicep tendon tore off my shoulder. I have a bump in arm now and elected not to fix it. Dr said it will heal completely with normal strength in 8-10 months. Will still have bump though. Same thing as Brett Favre and Peyton Manning he said. Not triceps though but I suspect similar???

Different injury. May be applicable experience.

I tore my right lower bicep tendon completely off the mooring point. My bicep looked like a baseball under my skin. The concern was getting it reattached before the muscle/tendon group shrank. If it had shrunk too much it would make reattacment difficult to impossible. In the month before my surgery I was able to still play the guitar. Lots of up and down movement of the right fore arm despite not having a useful bicep on that arm. They told me I would lose about 20% IIRC of the lifting strength in my right arm without the surgery. Surgery involved a stainless pin and sewing the tendon to the bone?

Recovery was six weeks in a cast and a couple years of using the arm but no throwing anything. Almost completely forgot about it nowadays 12 years later.

I would ask your guy about the prognosis if it fails to heal naturally.

Same thing happened to be. Right arm looks like popeye now. I did consult an ortho about it and he said he wouldn't try surgery as it had been several weeks since it happened. Even if I went in immediately he said he'd discourage the surgery as it would take months to heal and several more months of rehab and only stood about a 50/50 shot at regaining all strength.

Did your Doc recommend strength training for that arm and if so what exercises did you focus on? I am still pretty strong on that side but would like to reinforce the strength for down the road.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Same thing happened to be. Right arm looks like popeye now. I did consult an ortho about it and he said he wouldn't try surgery as it had been several weeks since it happened. Even if I went in immediately he said he'd discourage the surgery as it would take months to heal and several more months of rehab and only stood about a 50/50 shot at regaining all strength.

Did your Doc recommend strength training for that arm and if so what exercises did you focus on? I am still pretty strong on that side but would like to reinforce the strength for down the road.

No rehab or anything, he just sent me back to work and told me if it hurts stop doing it otherwise to try and move it as normal. I’d check with another ortho if I was you. I don’t have the records in front of me, but I’m pretty sure it was close to a month between injury and surgery. My guy didn’t think that was a big deal, but he did say we would not have wanted to wait much longer because things shrink. My arm was pretty atrophied, but I just started using it again, and was careful not to curl anything heavy.

 

[Marbles]

Might be worth listening to this. https://theprehabguys.com/podcast/talking-tendons-with-jill-cook/

Good luck.

 

[Snpr700]

I tore my bicep tendon and tricep tendon, both at the elbow. I was pushing too hard in the gym and paid for it. Both tendons torn 50% from the bone. Ortho said I could lighten up on the weights or get surgery. I opted to forego surgery. I went with about 60% of weights I was using before the tears for about 6 weeks. I’m back to the weights I was using prior to the tears and only feel a little burn now and then. I’d say weight the 6-8 month recovery with what your daily activities are and if you could still do what you want.

 

[ztc92]

Same thing happened to be. Right arm looks like popeye now. I did consult an ortho about it and he said he wouldn't try surgery as it had been several weeks since it happened. Even if I went in immediately he said he'd discourage the surgery as it would take months to heal and several more months of rehab and only stood about a 50/50 shot at regaining all strength.

Did your Doc recommend strength training for that arm and if so what exercises did you focus on? I am still pretty strong on that side but would like to reinforce the strength for down the road.

I think there’s a chance you each may not have the same type of biceps injury, leading to the confusion amongst the advice you each received from orthopedics.

Generally if you tear the long head of the biceps, which attaches into the shoulder, it’s non-surgical as most will get nearly full function back thanks to a second attachment point in the shoulder that is still functional. The two attachment points are the reason for the name “biceps” as bi = 2.

If you tear (the biceps tendon at the elbow, this is almost always surgical and will have significant loss of function if not repaired.

To the OP, my experience with triceps tears is very limited so I’m sorry I’m not mich help. Whenever I have patients on the fence or the decision of surgery vs rehab is a coin flip, I always suggest a second opinion with a sub-specialist. In your case, I’d suggest a visit to an orthopedic surgeon who completed extra training in upper extremity surgery. You’ll likely find one at the nearest large city as part of an orthopedic surgery group. Feel free to PM me if you have additional questions.

 

[BuckWild41]

Well... with all the foolish things I do what got me was falling in my garage. Have a partially torn triceps lateral head tendon. Met the surgeon a couple days ago. He's a friend of mine so I trust what he says but wanted to throw out the intel to see it anyone else has dealt with this, and what their opinion was. Scheduled surgery for Feb. 6th but am supposed to talk to the surgeon a week prior regarding how it feels. He said if it's healing then we'd just cancel the surgery. He told me that is truly on the borderline whether surgery was necessary or not. Has anyone had the surgery? Results? Has anyone been in a similar situation and not had the surgery? Results? Thanks

Was the tear caused due to bracing yourself from impact? Also, how old are you friend? My brother had the same fall/injury and they told him the same due to his age (53) at the time

 

[Davyalabama]

No triceps, tore my bicep tendon (lifting to heavy crap above my head, heard three quick pops), I waited a good 2.5 months or so trying to let it heal, resting it, etc. (Ok, I did lift two deer, both bucks, into the bed of a SXS, during this time, that was excruciating, nobody was with me on both occasions, both were good bucks, I thought what the heck, I should have learned after the first one). Went to an ortho specialist that deals with sports injuries, Andrews Clinic in Birmingham, Al. Long story short, it was a good thing I went in when I did, if I had waited, surgery would have been a lot more difficult just from moving it like I was.

So, between The Great Physician and Healer (who gets all the Glory ), the surgery, the follow up rehab, my following instructions on what to do and what not to do, I'm back 100%. One other thing, I'm right at 60.

Always get a second opinion, not just from an ortho., but from a sports ortho.

 

[doc holiday13]

take a collagen supplement. Your body needs extra collagen to repair connective tissue. I took a collagen supplement post op from bicep tendon repair. I could feel the difference on the days i didn't take it.

 

[bigv]

Same thing happened to be. Right arm looks like popeye now. I did consult an ortho about it and he said he wouldn't try surgery as it had been several weeks since it happened. Even if I went in immediately he said he'd discourage the surgery as it would take months to heal and several more months of rehab and only stood about a 50/50 shot at regaining all strength.

Did your Doc recommend strength training for that arm and if so what exercises did you focus on? I am still pretty strong on that side but would like to reinforce the strength for down the road.

Well I had reconstructive surgery on shoulder....sort of. Lots of issues. I had tear in labrum, some bone shaved off, and had fraying of that tendon where it attached. He took the tendon off and put it in a new position I guess. Well it didn't take and popped off within a week. Eek that hurt. Like getting shot in shoulder. So I went back in and he said he could fix but advised just to leave it as it would heal 100% and have 100% strength on it's own. I've done PT for shoulder but not really for bicep. It's been 5 months. Still feels a little odd sometimes, feels like it has a cramp or something? But strength is perfect etc.