Medial Head Tricep Injury - Grade 2 tear

Hoping someone can share insight or experience the above type of injury? I'd really appreciate any comments and thoughts.

About 3 weeks ago, I was doing a heavy set skull crushers (basing mid sets on 4 reps). On my last rep of last heavy set, pressing the weight back up, I felt a short pain in the area in my mid tricep and then felt a major pull. There was very little pain at first after the event but the next day it was a different story.

It's a odd injury as I can still do bench, rows and biceps but shoulder press, all tricep exercises and DB pullovers are all painful.

As precuation I went to see a physio the same week that it happend (not the one I would normally see) and said it's a tricep tear and lay off the heavy weights for a week or two. 3 weeks have passed and it has not recovered properly and today I returned to my normal physio who basically advised that its a Grade 2 tear.

I have now been adviseed that I am not to do any tricep exercises and also give up on the boxing until it heals. I have heard that these injuries can linger and its very demotivating given the momentum I was on.

From a rehab perspective, I have been given wall pushups with a 'plus' and do the odd tricep extension strech 3x day.

Unusual injury wabeer1. Tell me - what hurts more - doing standing cable pushdowns (with your elbows into your side) against resistance or doing a sitting dumbell extension (with your elbow pointed toward the ceiling, lowering weight behind head)? Also, if you keep your elbow by your side and bend it as far as you can and then try to straighten it against resistance (using your other hand), does this aggravate it? Then do the same thing with your arm high in the air (sore elbow next to your head) and contract against resistance. Does changing the position of the elbow from being next to your side to overhead make any difference in your symptoms?

[QUOTE=thesparkly1;393853411]Unusual injury wabeer1. Tell me - what hurts more - doing standing cable pushdowns (with your elbows into your side) against resistance or doing a sitting dumbell extension (with your elbow pointed toward the ceiling, lowering weight behind head)? Also, if you keep your elbow by your side and bend it as far as you can and then try to straighten it against resistance (using your other hand), does this aggravate it? Then do the same thing with your arm high in the air (sore elbow next to your head) and contract against resistance. Does changing the position of the elbow from being next to your side to overhead make any difference in your symptoms?[/QUOTE]

Yeh, really left field injury lol!

The pain with cables is nominal but the extension pain is just brutal (with weights only though). I only really seem get the pain overhead and don't seem to experience to much by extending from my side to overhead.

In all the years of training, have never had a problem with tricep.

Thats what i suspected. The reason i asked you to perform that test was to distinguish between the medial head of triceps and the long head of triceps as possible sources of your symptoms. What you have is not a tear of the medial head but rather, a tear of the long head of the triceps wabeer1.

[QUOTE=thesparkly1;393856741]Thats what i suspected. The reason i asked you to perform that test was to distinguish between the medial head of triceps and the long head of triceps as possible sources of your symptoms. What you have is not a tear of the medial head but rather, a tear of the long head of the triceps wabeer1.[/QUOTE]

Cheers thesparkly1,

Thanks for that and the physio said the same thing and then she changed her mind, so confused buy this :confused , ..tricep muscles seem to be very complicated in structure. The is coming from the lower part of the tricep. Do you think the wall pushup and extension rehab exercises will help?

I have found the following pic which has helped me understand the structure better.

[img]http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~uzwiak/AnatPhys/APFallLect15_files/image016.jpg[/img]

wabeer1, probably the best way to understand this muscle group is to appreciate that only the long head of the triceps crosses the shoulder joint to attach to the scapula (just like the long head of biceps does in the front of the arm). The medial and lateral heads do not cross the shoulder joint, so they are not involved in movement of the shoulder joint - only movement at the elbow joint. Because the long head crosses the shoulder, it is involved in movement at the shoulder. This is why you "only really seem get the pain overhead" as you said, because movement of the arm overhead stretches the long head only.
So, from a rehab point of view, perhaps your most important consideration should be the shoulder position itself, and more specifically, the degree of elevation in the frontal plane. Afterall, it's the degree of elevation here that determines the stress on your long head of triceps. So, when selecting exercises, avoid any exercises overhead and choose exercises instead that keep your elbows as low as possible throughout the range of motion. You've already discovered that seated rows and bicep curls dont hurt & now you know why. It's impossible for me to suggest what a 'safe' range is for you without a assessing you first, but you'll work it out pretty quick when it hurts. Something else you can try is some proprioceptive (awareness) taping of the shoulder to remind you when you're approaching the 'unsafe zone'. 1 or 2 strips of premium sports tape placed vertically over the back of the shoulder and then stretched down to the mid triceps or slightly lower should be all you need - as your arm elevates, the tape will pull tight and remind you to stop. Good luck & let us know how you get on.

[QUOTE=thesparkly1;393864911]wabeer1, probably the best way to understand this muscle group is to appreciate that only the long head of the triceps crosses the shoulder joint to attach to the scapula (just like the long head of biceps does in the front of the arm). The medial and lateral heads do not cross the shoulder joint, so they are not involved in movement of the shoulder joint - only movement at the elbow joint. Because the long head crosses the shoulder, it is involved in movement at the shoulder. This is why you "only really seem get the pain overhead" as you said, because movement of the arm overhead stretches the long head only.
So, from a rehab point of view, perhaps your most important consideration should be the shoulder position itself, and more specifically, the degree of elevation in the frontal plane. Afterall, it's the degree of elevation here that determines the stress on your long head of triceps. So, when selecting exercises, avoid any exercises overhead and choose exercises instead that keep your elbows as low as possible throughout the range of motion. You've already discovered that seated rows and bicep curls dont hurt & now you know why. It's impossible for me to suggest what a 'safe' range is for you without a assessing you first, but you'll work it out pretty quick when it hurts. Something else you can try is some proprioceptive (awareness) taping of the shoulder to remind you when you're approaching the 'unsafe zone'. 1 or 2 strips of premium sports tape placed vertically over the back of the shoulder and then stretched down to the mid triceps or slightly lower should be all you need - as your arm elevates, the tape will pull tight and remind you to stop. Good luck & let us know how you get on.[/QUOTE]

Thank you very much for taking the time to help me out on this injury and have taken your comments on board. I'II keep you posted on how I get along.

Cheers mate!

You're welcome wabeer1. Glad i could help.

After some intense physio sessions, acupuncture, anti-inflam's and massages..tricep has finally healed enough to start training again.

It has taken approx 8 weeks for it to heal and looks like all mobility is back. Feelin a bit weaker but give it a couple of weeks and I will be on track again.

Started out doing some light tricep cable pulldowns the other week and today marked the 1st day were I could do skulls, dips and CGBP.

that's good news... hope to see ur lifts go up quickly!

wish i could send the same message about my shoulder soon!

hi guys,

im 17 and i do bodybuilding.. about 5 weeks ago i got this pain on my tricept medial head im guessing becuse thats where the pain is coming from, i got it scanned and the doctor said its all normal but the pain hasnt gone and its kind of getting worst, i want to get back to training my chest an tricepts.. but this put me of training legs and i cant do anything else other then legs and abs preety much. can you guys help me what do i have to do to get it repaired.. and will it be back to how it was? i got the pain but i kept working on it.. and i think thats why its not healing.. please guys any help an advice wil be appreciated,


thanks

[QUOTE=vp2boy;543980313]hi guys,

im 17 and i do bodybuilding.. about 5 weeks ago i got this pain on my tricept medial head im guessing becuse thats where the pain is coming from, i got it scanned and the doctor said its all normal but the pain hasnt gone and its kind of getting worst, i want to get back to training my chest an tricepts.. but this put me of training legs and i cant do anything else other then legs and abs preety much. can you guys help me what do i have to do to get it repaired.. and will it be back to how it was? i got the pain but i kept working on it.. and i think thats why its not healing.. please guys any help an advice wil be appreciated,


thanks[/QUOTE]

Hey mate, scans will not detect a muscle tear so. With the pain, is it really sharp and does it affect all movements?

In my case I could still bench but all tricep and rowing motions were all affected. With my injury it was severe and diagnosed as a grade 2 tear which basically put me out of action for 8 weeks. Generally for minor tear you will be out of action for 2-3 weeks but should make a full recovery. I would stay off all exercises that aggrevate it and use an icepack on it if you exercise afterwards as precaution. When you feel that it's nearly fully healed I would start returning back to really light weights to build up strength and mobility, I use to do high rep (25+) cable pushdowns and gradually add back lifts over a 2-3 week period. Overhead lifts should be the last type of lifts was the last type of lifts I added back as they use to tweak my tricep.

The best advice I could give you is to see a physio and get it properly diagnosed - they will work it out very fast and give you rehab exercises. Let me know how you get on and hope I was able to help.

[QUOTE=wabeer1;393828821]Hoping someone can share insight or experience the above type of injury? I'd really appreciate any comments and thoughts.

About 3 weeks ago, I was doing a heavy set skull crushers (basing mid sets on 4 reps). On my last rep of last heavy set, pressing the weight back up, I felt a short pain in the area in my mid tricep and then felt a major pull. There was very little pain at first after the event but the next day it was a different story.

It's a odd injury as I can still do bench, rows and biceps but shoulder press, all tricep exercises and DB pullovers are all painful.

As precuation I went to see a physio the same week that it happend (not the one I would normally see) and said it's a tricep tear and lay off the heavy weights for a week or two. 3 weeks have passed and it has not recovered properly and today I returned to my normal physio who basically advised that its a Grade 2 tear.

I have now been adviseed that I am not to do any tricep exercises and also give up on the boxing until it heals. I have heard that these injuries can linger and its very demotivating given the momentum I was on.

From a rehab perspective, I have been given wall pushups with a 'plus' and do the odd tricep extension strech 3x day.[/QUOTE]

sorry nam hey are u better yet dont know how old or new this post is i hope ur doing ok man. I can't understand ur injury but i can understand not being able to do certain exercise (i cant relate not being able to do any and you know why hahaha) but yeah man just run and abs legs and some bi u should be good and if it start to hurt dong arms maybe just run and legs and push ups there lighter on your body unless ur 1000000 pounds hahaha but seriously hope ur doing better :D

[QUOTE=raiku5;667586531]sorry nam hey are u better yet dont know how old or new this post is i hope ur doing ok man. I can't understand ur injury but i can understand not being able to do certain exercise (i cant relate not being able to do any and you know why hahaha) but yeah man just run and abs legs and some bi u should be good and if it start to hurt dong arms maybe just run and legs and push ups there lighter on your body unless ur 1000000 pounds hahaha but seriously hope ur doing better :D[/QUOTE]
Injury occured in 2009 - long time ago and was not an experience I would recommend lolz! All good now!

Hey man,

Its a bit late but Ive got the same problem from doing skulls to heavy, was the pain you were getting near your elbow?

also, what did you do to treat it and help it recover as I want to get back as soon as possible!

any help would be great.

[QUOTE=123mc456;983015453]Hey man,

Its a bit late but Ive got the same problem from doing skulls to heavy, was the pain you were getting near your elbow?

also, what did you do to treat it and help it recover as I want to get back as soon as possible!

any help would be great.[/QUOTE]

I remember the pain was at the lower end of the tricep near the elbow. Rest is the best cure and had to back off from training until the sharp pain had diminished. Best exercise as part of the rehab was light cable tricep pulldowns and after a couple of weeks I started introducing CGBP and Skulls (at 50% of what my mid rep range weight was).

It's not a common injury and not much info on it when I did it. I remember the physio saying that he had not come across it in all the 15 years of his career. My left tricep (the one that I tore) is marginally bigger than my right one now lol!

Hit me up if you have any more questions and keep me posted on your recovery.

Great info men. I have the same injuries that have been discussed here. Going heavy weight I injured my left tricep. Some tricep exercise hurt more than others. Anything where I need to raise my arms is a killer but I can do pushdowns but I just do light weight and I have no real issue with dips. The pain is right near the elbow. I'm stronger than the average guy but I couldn't even move 40 pounds attempting incline tricep extension due to the pain that shot right to that spot in my tricep.

I took about a month off before moving back to very light weights. I thought I was making progress but found out recently that this is not the case.

I guess I will stick to very light weights and focus on pushdowns and dips since there isn't much pain with them. Thoughts?

[QUOTE=WhoDatNationLA;1444112421]Great info men. I have the same injuries that have been discussed here. Going heavy weight I injured my left tricep. Some tricep exercise hurt more than others. Anything where I need to raise my arms is a killer but I can do pushdowns but I just do light weight and I have no real issue with dips. The pain is right near the elbow. I'm stronger than the average guy but I couldn't even move 40 pounds attempting incline tricep extension due to the pain that shot right to that spot in my tricep.

I took about a month off before moving back to very light weights. I thought I was making progress but found out recently that this is not the case.

I guess I will stick to very light weights and focus on pushdowns and dips since there isn't much pain with them. Thoughts?[/QUOTE]

**4 weeks ago, I tore my right triceps medial about an inch away from my elbow. The blood drained into my forearm and went away in about a week. I can physically feel the ball of scar tissue there after all the swelling subsided. Prior, that arm could single hand extend a 35 lb dumbbell overhead with no problem. I've strained my left triceps in '04 lifting and had a .45 bullet pass through my right triceps in '08. Those tears were entirely different from this one though. I rehabbed myself back fully. This medial triceps tear didn't effect my back or biceps exercises. Now, for chest and shoulders, I can only do Hammer Strength decline press, assisted dips, light kick backs, front and side raises, upright rows, and pec deck flyes. No extensions, pushdowns, dumbbells, or barbell press across my chest or over head. Extending a 3 lb dumbbell infront or over head is tough because of the pulling pain. I'll still practice range of motion and ice if it swells, work with a light rubber band, but I think I should give it at least 6 weeks before attemping any weights again. I wanted to read from people who have had this injury and what they did to treat and condition their arm.

How I did it: Not from a free weight. I have a 120 lb cane corso mastiff. I was walking him at the park on a leash. A pitt bull and great dane, not on leashes, approached us. My dog didn't like them, so I began leading him away and yelling to the other dogs to leave. Their owners were 2 college girls that had zero voice control over their dogs. As we fast walking off with my leash over my shoulder, one of the challenging dogs nipped my dogs rear. My dog turned really fast, knocked me down, and I felt 2 jolts in my arm. My dog defended himself with me attached. A few more seconds past and it was finally over. My dog didn't have a scratch, but I knew that "crushed cereal" sound from tearing other muscle groups in the past. My right triceps swelled and I couldn't raise the arm for several days. So my injury was done with accelerated adrenaline, fear, and a force too strong for my arm to handle. I bought a stun gun and pepper spray if we are in the bad situation again. I sure as heck am NOT going to hold my leash.

This injury happened to me 9 months ago. Turns out, I tore my triceps longhead. I don't know how much, but it was at least 25-50%. The muscle drew back towards my underarm and scar tissue formed about an inch above my elbow.
How did it happen: In short, I put my dog leash over my shoulder to lead him away from 2 dogs not on leashes. My dog is an Italian mastiff, 125 lbs of lean athletic muscle. He was defending himself against a pitt and a great dane that were charging, the pitt biting him. He jerked me to the ground, I hear 2 crunching sounds in my arm. Those crushed cereal sounds are muscle breaks because I've heard them before in other parts. My injury was done with accelerated adrenaline, fear, and a force too strong for my arm to handle. Now, if I ever go to a park and take my dog, I bring pepper spray and a stun gun to get a dogs attention.

Result: I have a little over 30% strength back in my right triceps. Besides range of motion and therapy, I had to train it to balance and throw. Though not painful, it hasn't been easy. I've been weight lifting for over 20 years, so this was a set back. I couldn't extend anything for 3 weeks, then started with a can of soup, which was hard. My front deltoid, biceps, and forearms were recruited more.
Do I think it will return to its normal state? I don't know how much can return. My focus now is to get 50% strength back, I do believe I can do that. This used to be my dominate triceps, but the table has turned. I just want to get it strong enough to hold heavier dumbbells again. I swear, if I can get more than half my strength back, I will grow and make my triceps so strong. Don't know what you had until it's gone.

Hello, im 29 years old overweight guy, ive been hitting the gym for 3 months and ive made a really great progress since then, two weeks ago I had a very sharp pain that i felt between the shoulder and chest when i was doing triceps pressdown.I was able to complete my sets and all of my workout routine without a single pain but after several days when i went to sleep i felt a pain on my left upper arm and since then my triceps pain from my upper arm to elbow hurts alot and its in pain,i went to doc to take a mri test for my shoulder and ill get my shoulder mri results soon but i dont know what happened to me i also feel a dull pain on my chest where pec muscle is, it hurts when i breathe.

I have no loss of strength on my injured triceps arm and i have full range of motion but its in pain 24/7 and when i try to push or pull things my tricep pain hurts even more after i done with it.

Anyone can help me to figure it out? yes i will see doc but i want to hear it out from you all too.

This is back of my arm as shown in the picture.

ibb . co / nMKrCGF