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Thread: Torn triceps tendon

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dust Devil View Post
    "I use it to constantly remind myself of my overall purpose which is to stay in the game as long as possible."

    During my examination, my orthopedist had a bit of a smirk on his face. He eventually said something to the effect: "I know your type, trying to push off the effects of aging by driving your bodies past the point they're now capable of. Most of them end up here eventually."

    What he insinuated is that tearing a tendon or something as inevitable, particularly as we age, yet your story & Nick's, where you go past the point where the injury occurred, suggests there are other causes besides merely exceeding structural limitations and no one seems to know for sure what they are.

    Well, I'm not going to spend too much time worrying how to prevent injury again before I learn what exactly the injury is, which I should learn next Wednesday.

    Thanks for the thoughts, guys.
    The general idea that injury occurs when load exceeds tolerance is correct. The two problems that your ortho has not reconciled yet is that what constitutes load on your biology is more complex than what you are physically doing at the moment. Injury takes into account the total load including biological, psychological and emotional stressors. Things like this are usually more complex than only a structural limitation and we have a fairly good idea of what they are. Also people who do not train do not truly understand adaptation. They think of the body as car that has a certain limited number of miles you can drive it before it breaks. They don't understand that it is living, adaptable and dynamic. They don't understand that placing the right amount of overload on tissues is exactly how you make yourself stronger. This is something that you can only understand by going through the process. Reading it out of the a textbook does not do it justice.

  2. #12
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    Dec 2019
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    I have a friend who was running to his car the other day in a rainstorm. He slipped and fell. Landed just right and tore a triceps tendon. Stuff happens.

    I see this as an option. One, train and risk/endure/manage injuries. Two, don’t train and rust out. Mentally, I feel like complete garbage if I am not training. So much so that it affects my job performance and personal relationships.

    We will rust out before we wear out.

  3. #13
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    Oct 2018
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    MRI results:

    There is a high-grade partial-thickness tear of the triceps tendon at its insertion on the olecranon which measures 13 mm in mediolateral dimension and involves the posterior 12 mm of the tendon which is quite thickened. There is no significant retraction, however. The most anterior portion of the tendon is intact. There is an associated communicating fluid collection posterior to the olecranon measuring 3.8 cm in craniocaudal dimension by 1.3 cm in AP dimension by 3.0 cm in mediolateral dimension.
    I'm scheduled for surgery on Tuesday.

    It sounds like I'll have to wear a brace for a while after the surgery, so I'm wondering whether I'll even be able to do squats or deadlifts for a while.

  4. #14
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    It's probably going to be a while. Keep us updated on how things go!

  5. #15
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    If its like mine, the brace will keep the range of motion in your arm limited. This range will gradually be increased. Deadlifts will be out of the question for quite a while as will squats with a straight bar. You may be able to get in position, after a month or so, to hold a bar but the overall risk is far too high. Your tendon will take months to heal fully. That doesn't mean you won't be able to use it but you'll want to be careful for a while. However, I was doing squats with a SSB a few days after surgery with my arm still in a sling as you don't need to hold a SSB. I'm not saying it was the smartest thing to do but that's what I did.

    Again though, are injuries are similar but probably not identical. That's just my experience.

  6. #16
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    Oct 2018
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    In the interests of turning lemons into lemonade, are there any useful exercises that you were able to do? Could you go running or does having one arm in a brace throw you off balance? I don't want to see my body fall apart while I recuperate.

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by dalan View Post
    I can speak to this. I had a tricep tendon rupture. I was 51 when it happened. After surgery and recovery, it's fine. I can lift as heavy as I want and it causes no problems at all.
    My triceps ripped a flake of bone off the elbow completely separating the tendon from the elbow. I had it repaired in June and am pretty disappointed with the strength so far. Can you outline the timeline and progress you made to get back to 100%?

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rock Eater View Post
    My triceps ripped a flake of bone off the elbow completely separating the tendon from the elbow. I had it repaired in June and am pretty disappointed with the strength so far. Can you outline the timeline and progress you made to get back to 100%?
    It could take a bit of time. I don't recall exactly - I want to say six months for sure. Do you feel like you're not progressing like you'd hoped or do you feel substantial weakness that worries you? Tendons take a long time, if you're progressing consistently, that's good.

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rock Eater View Post
    My triceps ripped a flake of bone off the elbow completely separating the tendon from the elbow. I had it repaired in June and am pretty disappointed with the strength so far. Can you outline the timeline and progress you made to get back to 100%?
    You're probably on a six-month timeline, just as I was. However, I pursued a more aggressive rehab than what my orthopedist recommended using a PT who is a member of this website. As soon as the the bracing came off the arm, I started a slow progression with my lifts, which my ortho didn't approve of.

    My lower body lifts, which I had to be careful with due to the injury, have all recovered and exceeded my original PRs. I had to start off using a high bar squat.

    Upper body lifts are at about 95% right now, but I've been super slow in advancing them. Presses, for instance, I'm only adding 2.5 lbs per session. Top end sets leave my elbow a bit sore, but it's gone by the next day.

    I'm also only doing incline benches. I tore my triceps on flat bench and I haven't decided whether I'm going to try to reach my previous PR on that. My orthopedist strongly recommends against it, but my PT doesn't agree. I thought my tear was do to long-term tendonosis that weakened the tendon & thinks a reinjury to be unlikely.

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