Torn pec tendon

[sumtexan]

Have any of you ever dealt with a torn pec tendon? On Monday, 5/28, I tore my pec tendon from its humeral attachment. It occurred as I was benching, following a proper warm up and was on my second work set of a standard 5 rep set. I visited my ortho on 5/29, who confirmed it was pec tendon, and scheduled an MRI for tonight, Thursday 5/31. We have a follow up appt next week to review the films and findings, but he told me to plan on getting the surgery to repair the tendon (i.e., re-attach the tendon to the bone) next week once he determines the nature and extent of the injury.

For those who are morbidly curious, this is what it looks like 24 hours after the incident:
photo 5.jpg

I was planning on attending the Starting Strength seminar at WFAC in 10 days, but as you can imagine, that's going to have to wait until I lift again. Which brings me to my question:

Have any of you ever suffered this injury and surgical repair, or know of anyone who has? And if so, how long did it take to recover and begin lifting again?

[StrongLiftMyBalls]

No, im lucky so far. Out of interest, how much does something like this hurt or is it more of really deep aching?

[yorick]

I'm curious how much you were lifting when this happened?

[sumtexan]

No, im lucky so far. Out of interest, how much does something like this hurt or is it more of really deep aching?

Right when it occurs, it feels more like an electrical shock and the area goes hot and slack. After a few minutes, it begins to hurt like a sonofabitch, then tapers to a dull ache with one hell of a bruise.

[sumtexan]

I'm curious how much you were lifting when this happened?

That's the thing, I wasn't lifting a bunch of weight. I was benching 215lbs. I suspect my tendon was in a pretty shitty state for a while and the littlest thing was going to set it off.

In the interest of disclosure, about a year ago, I began crossfitting just to see what the hype was all about. I've been active my whole life, played contact sports through post grad days, and have never suffered any tendon ruptures whatsoever. I've stopped crossfit about 3 weeks ago, but before then, in the last year, I've torn my medial meniscus, had rotator cuff issues, had hip pain at the greater trochanter/IT Band syndrome, and now a torn pec tendon. I'm not saying crossfit caused my injuries, but I'm pretty sure performing complex movements for reps, while in a state of fatigue, probably didn't help. It's fun stuff, but it ain't that fun...

[yorick]

What kind of diet are you eating? I have no idea about tendon injuries, but something in the back of my head is saying that dehydration might make them more likely.

[sumtexan]

What kind of diet are you eating? I have no idea about tendon injuries, but something in the back of my head is saying that dehydration might make them more likely.

I ate pretty clean with the occasional pizza/cheeseburger/chicken fried steak thrown in for good measure. I probably didn't do a great job of keeping the system as watered as I could have, but I didn't do a bad job either. Gotta say, though, you may be on to something.

[shaddix]

Sucks man.

[Carlos Daniel]

I know that one of the first things Rip would have asked was if the OP was a crossfitter. I now am starting to understand why.

[sumtexan]

Yessir, it does suck. If it'll help anyone, I'll post MRI findings, surgery and post-op surgery progress.