"Popeye" bicep

[dbski]

About a month ago my right shoulder was giving me fits. With lots of stretching I was able to keep skiing but the pain persisted. Then I was hooking up after 5 ball and I felt and heard a loud pop from my shoulder, I tossed the rope but strangly there wasn't much pain. When I got in the boat my wife who is a PT looked at my arm and told me I had just torn my biceps tendon as the muscle was rolled up and creating what they call a "popeye bicep". I took about ten days off from skiing but there wasn't hardly any pain and I didn't feel like my arm was compromised at all. I've since skied a couple times and while I didn't push it everything felt fine. My wife says you have 2 biceps tendons and tearing one is not that serious. My question is has any one else experienced this and how has it been long term?

[Than_Bogan]

My ski partner did that one. Over time, it was very little impact on his skiing. At least 95%.

 

Repair is not indicated -- the risk of surgery seems to be considered greater than the potential benefit.

 

I also know another skier who did it and my uncle (who isn't a skier but a big tennis player) as well.

 

The verdict seems to be it just looks a little weird (say goodbye to your career as an arm model!).

[ForrestGump]

Dave West completely ruptured both bicep tendons years ago and essentially has no bicep any longer. He's running into 39 1/2 off.

[dbski]

That is encouraging, although anything over 28 is a pipe dream for me! There has been one benefit, just got back from walking the dog and for the first time in years I was able to throw the tennis ball OVERHAND! Being a former pitcher it felt great.

[ski6jones]

I had that injury, among others, from putting my arm through the handle. I still remember looking at my arm after the fall. It looked like I had a softball just above my elbow and no muscle above that.

 

None of the docs I saw recommended reattachment. Everything I read said surgery to reattach was not indicate in patients over 40 or so.

 

I did not have reattachment surgery and have no problems skiing. Injury was around 8 years ago.

[Texas6]

And Carl skis into 38 with that bicep!!! Are you using a handle guard these days?

[Kelvin]

I recommend having it checked out to make sure the muscle is still getting good blood flow. Otherwise, it could turn gangrene and get serious.

[Phil2360]

@dbski, Sounds like what I did about 10 or 12 years back.

Mine was a crash doing something really dopey. (Skiing behind a Jet boat).

Few years later I was skiing mid 28 off.

 

Long term I've always noticed discomfort & muscle fatigue when doing things that involve a twisting action,

like using a screwdriver or socket wrench.

 

Have also noticed general dull ache at night for the past 12 months or so.

 

What's your vintage @dbski? I'm 48 now & it would have happened back in the late 30's.

 

Cheers

 

Phil.

 

 

[dbski]

My vintage? I like the way that sounds, especially since my vintage is closing in on 59. This injury has violated my number one rule of skiing,don't hurt yourself. At this age the old body doesn't heal that fast and not skiing drives me nuts!

[jefflyman]

At 50 vintage I did a partial tear of the bicep tendon tightening a motor mount bolt on my kids jet ski. Lots of PT and constant rubbing to keep the blood flow. 1 year later still feel it slightly although it never effected skiing couldnt even feel it, surprised. Good luck to you injurys suck.

[gyoung]

A mate of mine did the same thing playing football. Does'nt really bother him. Looks like he has one arm bigger than the other so we call him clock.

[Ed_Obermeier]

I'm missing the upper bicep tendon in both arms. I've had both shoulders rebuilt due to injury, in fact originally they were reattached but didn't stay for whatever reason, never really been an issue and I'm pushing 57. Ortho who did them says the upper tendon only does about 10% of the work anyway so you can go without it without much issue. The story he tells is that John Elway won the Super Bowl missing the upper bicep tendon in his throwing arm; if he can do that we can live/ski without it. Upside is that it can make your remaining biceps muscle look bigger than it might look otherwise. Girls love a good gun show right? :>)

[ski6jones]

One article I read was about some hard core rock climber who tore his bicep tendon at the shoulder. He opted to not have it reattached and noted the only down side was he couldn't do as many one armed pull ups as he could before the injury. I figured if he could still do ANY one armed pull ups I could survive without mine.

 

@shaneh, I called david west after my injury and he said if your skiing right you don't need your bicep anyway.

 

@texas6, 35 more like. In fact I've run 35 the last two times out. No handle guard yet, I just keep the handle till the boat takes it away.

[lagdawg]

I put my arm through the handle 16 years ago jumping (was 15 at the time). Did not have it repaired since I never wanted to be a body builder or model or anything. It has never held me back. Every once in a while I will do something where I notice it is slightly weaker than my other arm but since it was my non dominant arm it hasn't really effected anything as far as I can tell. I regularly rock climb and waterski 3 event and felt no ill effects.

[RogoW]

Inured mine two years ago. Ran over 2 ball with right arm extended. Arm hit the water. Oddly enough on Friday, also at 5 ball 32 off heard a pop and finished it off. Looked down, saw the bulge, pulled out, got back in the boat. There was an orthopedic surgeon at SWV this weekend. He examined me, told me I could ski. It was completely detached so I couldn't make it worse. He also said Brett Favre has not has his for years too. Thing is if you do elect surgery, doc said you should do it within 30 days of the rupture. He suggested MRI to check it out, rotator cuff too, then decide. Skied today but bicep felt weak. Will post again after MRI, to let you know what I do.

[Razorskier1]

I tore my biceps tendon about 6 years ago putting my dock in -- missed an entire ski season! My surgeon said that 10 years ago they would have told a 40-something like me to leave it alone, do some therapy, and be comfortable getting 80-85% function back. At the time I had mine done he said that they now repair nearly all of them because the procedure is less invasive and more successful. For a 5-6 month recovery you get 100% function back. Haven't had an issue with it since. I can curl 12 ounces over and over and over again.

[RogoW]

MRI in. Otho says to leave it alone as there is no other damage. Should not impact skiing at all. Unless I need to turn a wrench or screwdriver hard (I have a nice Makita), I'm going to pass on the surgery.

[RogoW]

Total detach. 50 years old. doc says to have it done within 30 days as the tendon and muscle will atrophy. Asked him about September and he said it was too long to wait, now or never. He'll do the surgery, just doesn't think it will make any difference skiing.............which is all that matters. I'm running into 35 off and would like to run it before I'm 60. Some of the string above indicates people have done well without it. I wish it was more cut and dry!

[RogoW]

Surgery last Thursday. No rotator cuff damage so pain is almost non existent. Attachment of proximal bicep tendon is strong according to doc. 6 month recovery, done skiing for the year. I skied hard prior to surgery. ( okay'd by doc). Should be 100% after rehab. Can lift no more than 1 kilo. Starting with 12oz for now. Going quite well!

[RogoW]

1st ski ride last weekend. Surgery was a success.

[Zman]

Good to hear!

[Horton]

@RogoW Skiing looks the same

[Razorskier1]

I'm a believer in always talking to the surgeon. When I tore my distal biceps tendon (lower) he said that it is a common injury in 40-50 year old guys who have played hard. He also said it wouldn't have torn if it weren't worn! He warned me that the other tendon probably doesn't look that great either! Anyway, his comment was that it would probably be 80% without surgery, although the rotating motion (screwdriver) wouldn't be good. With surgery he said 95-100%. I've got a lot of life ahead of me and don't know what I might want to do with it. I opted for surgery and have been very happy despite missing an entire ski season (injured in April).

[JohnCox]

I had an MRI on my right shoulder and left elbow in December...partial tears, frays, scar tissue, bone spurs. Therapist says my shoulder looks like an 85 year old (I'm 45). My doctor said the same thing...6 months recovery before anything like I do now (no ski, no lift). But, he said if I can tolerate it, it doesn't have to be now. So, I'm doing rehab as best I can, avoiding things that I know hurt, and nursing it along. I figure at some point it will get bad enough to demand repair, and I hope that happens in the fall, rather than spring. My fear is that if I stop, I will blimp back up and never start again.