ruptured biceps tendon

So I recently ruptured the tendon that connects the long head of the biceps to the shoulder. I am wondering about a couple of things, so if anyone has any information let me know.

1. I am not going to have surgery. I am wondering how long recovery might be to full climbing strength.

2. I have been on a fairly low dose of prednisone for about 2 months. I have heard this might result in these types of injury. I am wondering how careful I need to be about exercise in general.

Anyone with similar situations out there? I would love to hear from you.

Hi Darren;
I severed my (long head) biceps tendon in 2004. I didn't go to the ER the night I did it, and by the time I could seek medical attention it was too late to "save" my bicep. I miss it, but I still climb. I am not sure "full climbing strength" is a reality or not; I have not been able to climb as hard as I did prior to my injury.

I cannot address item #2.

I too am a unicep. When it first tore, my big concern was whether there was damage to the labrum in addition to the long head. It seemed worth an MRI to determine that. I have since been able to climb at the same pitiful standard as before the tear. The long head is really only responsible for 10% of flexion. The only moves I notice it on are burly underclings. As far as recovery, it was a couple of months before I was climbing at my limit again, but that may have been self-imposed. I will say that my informal survey of friends with the same issues anecdotally indicates that it should not impede improvement too much.

Darren, if the tendon actually fully detached, there will be a certain amount of loss of strength. I don't think there is anyway around that if you don't have surgery.

This is based on personal experience and discussions with my orthopedist.

Thanks for the insight guys. I tore the labrum too. Been going to PT three times a week for 5 weeks now, getting stronger, but still worried about climbing on it. I still have occasional pain in the shoulder, and wonder if climbing hard again will happen. I'm bummed because this was my best year of climbing ever, and I was convinced I was just going to continue improving. The biggest bummer being an FFA I have been working on for 5 yrs off and on that requires a burly undercling with my now damaged left arm. Oh well....time to pass that one off.

Thankfully easy multipitch is in abundance out here so I can still have adventures. So if any of you guys find yourselves in vegas without a partner, look me up.

Good to know Simone, my orthopedist recommended PT, not surgery. I was surprised considering they usually want to cut for the $$$.

How long did you wait between the injury and the surgery?

Darren in Vegas wrote:Good to know Simone, my orthopedist recommended PT, not surgery. I was surprised considering they usually want to cut for the $$$. How long did you wait between the injury and the surgery?

Hey Darren,

I tore my bicep tendon (Grade I) and utilized PT for recovery (no surgery). I kept climbing during my recovery, but switched to long, easy trad lines and only used the injured arm to balance or place gear. My recovery took about 6 months. After this time I remained careful for an additional 6 months or so. That was several years ago and I now feel no difference in strength between the injured arm and the uninjured arm.

Thanks Geir,
That sounds about like what I was thinking for recovery time. Mine is Grade 3 (complete rupture) not sure if that means longer recovery or not. In the end I am now more concerned about the labrum tear since my shoulder continues to hurt. Once again, I am grateful that Red Rock has quality easy to moderate multipitch.

My longhead biceps was intentionally cut as part of shoulder surgery for a different ailment. The Dr. said it was frayed and would have snapped in the future anyway. I was diligent with PT, and with regaining strength from weight training and climbing. As I recall it was about 3 months until I was basically normal, and by 6 months I was completely recovered. The only detriment I’ve noticed is that my curl strength is about 95% of what is was before.

In summary, the loss of my longhead biceps is not limiting my climbing. There are other factors that have a much greater influence on my climbing ability.