UKC

A week ago I partially ruptured the long head of my bicep. Has anyone else done this and if so how has your re-hab gone? What strengthening exercises would anyone recommend and are there any good websites to illustrate these? Finally, can anyone recommend a climber/sportsman friendly physio in North Wales? Thanks in advance. Pete

In reply to lostcat:

I'm about as far from an expert as you can get but my advice would be to try and see a specialist and ideally get an MRI before seeing a physio cause you really need to know the extent of the damage. If you've already done this then I'd recommend flex physios in Caernarfon, but you really need to get it right first time if poss and have a look at what's gone in there.

In reply to lostcat:
I ruptured my right biceps last February. At first I thought I was having a stroke with the sudden weakness of my arm. I had MRI's left right and centre to diagnose the injury. It happened picking up a small object weighing a couple of kilos. There was no pain associated with the injury.

I recovered by complete rest of the injury for several months. At first I could not even pick up my own forearm let alone an empty mug. When the biceps recovered after several months, I started NHS physio. If you can afford private physio then take that option as NHS physios don't have the time to deal with such trivial injuries. Trivial in the grand scheme of things but feking relevant to me.

It took about 5-6 months to fully recover

In reply to The Lemming:
Thanks for that. How do you go about getting an MRI? My GP didn't evan mention this just said to rest it for the time being. Can I ask him to refer me?
To answer my own question it appears your GP does have to refer you for an MRI scan. I did it 11 days ago and although there was some pretty spectacular bruising for week or so there was very little pain. I also have a pretty good range of movement and am able to pick up everyday items pain free. Hopefuuly I've ben luckey and it shouldn't be too bad!

In reply to lostcat:
Seams my edit disappeared into the either! I did it 11 days ago and for the first week or so there was some pretty spectacular bruising but very little pain. I have a fairly good range of movement and can lift everyday items pain free and the bruising has all but gone. Also my bicep at the moment seams to be where it should be rather than having slipped down my arm. So, hopefully it isn't going to be too bad.
GRR! bloody edits!

In reply to lostcat:



From what I can gather a ruptured biceps can be diagnosed without the need for an MRI scan. Its just that I had some other serious sh1t going on with my upper back and the scan was just part of the bigger picture.

If a GP does not need an MRI then its not the end of the world.

I needed complete rest for the belly of the muscle to re-attach itself to my bone. From there it was more rest followed by yet more rest.

I took shed loads of Ice packs to reduce the swelling and kept the arm in a sling for a few weeks to ensure that I did not use my biceps and rip them from the bone again.

Truthfully, I thought I was screwed but the body is resilient and healed perfectly. Almost 12 months down the road there is absolutely no evidence of injury or weakness.

Top tip, use your other arm when doing the five finger shuffle.

In reply to The Lemming:



Cheers for that. I keep flitting between optimism and pessimism so I'll try and stay strong!

In reply to lostcat:

I ruptured mine badly last February in a skiing fall. It bled internally for a week, but after lots of osteo, massage, stretching etc by Easter I was back climbing in in Kalymnos by Easter, just not as hard as I'd have liked and I've had no problems since.