About 6 days ago I was arm-wrestling a guy. We locked for about 10 seconds before he started to go down. Afterwards my arm was a little sore but I was still able to perform my regular back/biceps workout later that night. The next day he challenged me again, and I reluctantly accepted. The moment we begain I felt a sharp pain in my tendon and quit, and for moments afterward was unable to lift my bag because of the inflammation. I went home, upset (I haven't skipped a workout in years and knew I was going to have to, which was most upsetting because of the progress I've been making lately).
The next day I was still having difficulty accepting this and decided to perform my chest/tri workout. I performed two sets of dumbbell bench presses, followed by two sets of dumbell flyes. Halfway through my first military press excercise, I noticed my tendon becoming inflamed and it inhibited my lift. I got pissed off and threw the 50 lb. dumbbells, and the inflammation returned at full (in rage one tends to act irrationally). I haven't lifted since, so it's been 4 days since my last lift.
I've been wearing a brace on my elbow and I get a very slight inflammation when I pick up my books, bag, etc. I've been icing it and using Blue Goo (sort of like IcyHot). After icing, I do free curls for 2-3 minutes with a copy of Native Son in my hand (a pound?). I think it's gotten slightly better because for the first day I couldn't lift a thing without my arm giving out, and I now feel no pain in the outside of my elbow.
The symptoms I've mentioned are no doubt very common, but in the articles I find I can't relate to all of the symptoms and I expect to be able to narrow it down to a specific condition. I'm not getting any of the wrist pains or soreness mentioned in most articles and I know it's not "torn" because I can move it with full range of motion, painlessly, unless i'm got a moderate amount of wait in my hands. It's not tennis elbow either because it's not a long-term injury, my elbows felt great until I acted a fool and arm-wrestled that brute again.
My main interest is how long this injury will prevent me from doing upper body lifts. Some people have said as long as 6 months, others have said 2-3 weeks, and one even said 1 week. I know it's all relative to the extent of the injury but the least I'm hoping to find is the recovery story of someone who can specifically relate to me, on which to base my expectations. I've been referring to it as a "stretched tendon".
Thanks.
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Results 1 to 5 of 5
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05-01-2007, 05:28 PM #1
Help identifying biceps tendon injury ..
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05-02-2007, 05:53 AM #2Naturalist
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well the injury recovery time can vary.. Ive never had that tyoe of injury, but I suggest you give up the arm wrestling.. there is lots of talk on this forum about arm wrestling and it is a big no no to the serious lifter due to the high risk of injury.
BRB, going hunting...
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05-02-2007, 07:12 AM #3Registered User
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Sounds like you could have a biceps brachii tendon tear or strain. has you bicep changed its shape at all? like become more ball shaped at the top of the arm? this is a commone symptom of a biceps brachii tear. you say u know its not "torn" because u can still flex your arm with the full ROM, however remember there r many other muscles that can flex your arm, such as the brachialis, brachioradialis, extensor carpi radialis longus and brevis, and pronator teres. so u can still flex ur arm without the biceps brachii but jsut not as strongly. hope that might have helped.
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05-02-2007, 03:10 PM #4
I'll never arm-wrestle again. The arm has gotten better, though. Today I was carrying my bull fiddle (25-30 lbs., I suppose) in my left arm and decided, what the hell, and passed it over to my right and curled it. Felt fine. Obviously some ache in the tendon but much better than before (no inflammation). I've been icing it and using Blue Goo. I'm almost certain it will be fit for lifting in less than a week. My bicep has not really changed in shape aside from the obvious shrinkage from the lack of intense lifting. Thanks for the advice.
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05-04-2007, 04:47 PM #5
At my peak, before I hurt my arm, I was able to perform alternating curls with a pair of 40 lb. dumbbells for 14 reps, and this was after performing wrist rollers and barbell rows. Today I took a chance and curled a 35 lb. dumbbell, with ease, without pain. Great success. Will start again on sunday.
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