Torn Muscle.................

[ltyson]

Not the way I wanted to start my first post, but I have lurked here for a while and figured some may have advice..........

Yesterday I was going heavy on barbell shrugs, 225 for reps then 315, then jumped to 365. On 365 I felt a pop (swear I heard it also) down in my forearm muscle about an inchbelow the crease of the elbow area. Never felt anything like that before so my dumb ass pulls another rep and again I get a second pop in the same area and knew I had issues so I rack the weight.

I was wearing wrist straps so I did not drop the weight out of my hands when it happened. Then after that I of course had pain in the area but was able to do some triceps work without killing myself as it seemed to only really, really hurt in certain motions or ranges, but not on things like cable press downs until just short of lockout.

The owner of the gym is a long time power lifter so I ask him. He feels around and says I may have a class 1 tear. He told me to ice it and that it would heal on it's own. There is no bruising which he said would indicate a more serious tear but a tear none the less. I went home and iced it for 15 minutes on and off a few times.

I do not think it is the bicep tendon as I can do curling motions and such if I do not bring the arm to full extension. It seems to bother me more with the flextion of my wrist and contraction combined primarily when the arm is fully extended. But it is hard to say as different odd movements of my hand and arm bother it at times.

So what is the best thing to do? Any secrets on how to make sure this thing heals properly so that it does not become a long term on-going issue?

Any help or suggestions would be great. Not sure if it matters but I am 37 years old, lifted for several years very seriously and then got out of the game for 13 years and have now been back for about 4 months.

Thanks,
ltyson

[MuscleScience]

Rest, rest and more rest.

[ltyson]

Thanks- rest it is. But How do I know when to start using it again? After a week or so do I work through the pain with very light weight or do I wait until I am pain free before doing anything at all?

By the way today I noticed a very small amount of light bruising in the area but it is not as painful as yesterday.

Thanks,
ltyson

[KAEW44]

You need to see a good sports doctor to see if there is any serious damage, you dont want to keep aggrevating a tear or problem anywhere. A pop usually is dislocation or break at some point, a Rip sound is more likely a tear. Usually but not always when you have a serious tear the area will bruise red or purple the same day or next day. In those cases surgery will be necessary.

Dont let it go easily man, i let a small tear go one time and thought i could wait it out and 4 years after it still bothers me, the scarring is so sensitive it will make your entire weightlifting suffer.

[MuscleScience]

You need to rest at least a week and I would say even two weeks wouldnt be bad. If you noticed some bruising then you have a fairly significant tear. Not to say its serious but it will require some patients and time off. The best way that I learned was that after the bruising is gone wait another week. when you get back into it make sure you go slow, your muscle was damaged and is going to be weak for awhile. So slow and steady if you feel sore after a workout that may be normal but you need to rest it more if it does feel sore or if there is a lump in the muscle.

[ltyson]

You need to see a good sports doctor to see if there is any serious damage, you dont want to keep aggrevating a tear or problem anywhere. A pop usually is dislocation or break at some point, a Rip sound is more likely a tear. Usually but not always when you have a serious tear the area will bruise red or purple the same day or next day. In those cases surgery will be necessary.
Dont let it go easily man, i let a small tear go one time and thought i could wait it out and 4 years after it still bothers me, the scarring is so sensitive it will make your entire weightlifting suffer.

Thanks. I will continue to rest it and see if I can find a doc that understands things like this. I know my current doc will feel around and just tell me to stay off the weights and let it heal for a while, which is probably the right advice, but maybe I can find someone a little more use to dealing with sport injuries. As a side note it is for sure, down in the muscle. I used the word "pop" but "rip" would work to for the feeling I felt when it happened.

[ltyson]

You need to rest at least a week and I would say even two weeks wouldnt be bad. If you noticed some bruising then you have a fairly significant tear. Not to say its serious but it will require some patients and time off. The best way that I learned was that after the bruising is gone wait another week. when you get back into it make sure you go slow, your muscle was damaged and is going to be weak for awhile. So slow and steady if you feel sore after a workout that may be normal but you need to rest it more if it does feel sore or if there is a lump in the muscle.

The off time is going to kill me . I am ending a great 8 week phase of training and I have added about 8-10 lbs and my strength has went up considerably. Was looking to continue that trend but I guess I will just have to concentrate more on legs for the time being. They need all the help they can get so maybe that is not a bad thing.

ltyson